Take Your Child to Work Day is Thursday, April 25th
Thursday, April 25th is Take Your Child to Work Day! This is an excellent opportunity for our sons and daughters to learn about responsibility and earning an income! If you don’t work outside the home, ask your husband or another prominent figure in your child’s life if he/she would be willing to let your child tag along!
We will be out of town on Thursday, so Big Brother went to work with his Daddy this past Friday afternoon. My husband is the Administrator of a Nursing Home, so it is an appropriate place for him to go as long as he is supervised.
Here are five tips for taking your child to work:
1. Ask permission.
First and foremost, ask your boss or company for permission to bring your child to work. Obviously, this won’t be possible for some professions. You may wish to create a sample schedule of what you and your child will be doing during your regular work hours to submit when asking permission. Also, check to see if your workplace has any events planned for this day and ask colleagues if they will be bringing their children as well.
2. Keep in mind the age and attention span of your child.
The organization Take Our Sons and Daughters to Work® recommends this event for ages 8-18, but I think younger children can participate with some modifications. If your child has a hard time following directions or a very short attention span, you may want to hold off for a year or two.
3. Consider only taking your child for half of the day (or even a few hours).
If you have a child who is younger than 8, continue taking your child for only half the day or even a couple hours. We want this to be a learning experience for your child(ren) without interrupting job productivity.
4. Have some quiet activities on hand.
I would recommend sending some quiet activities, such as coloring books, stickers, and even busy bags, with your child for those moments that the mother or father actually need to get something done at work! For older children, print off one of these activity guides. You can also download some educational apps on your tablet ahead of time…just in case. :)
5. Safety first.
Ensure your child is completely safe in your work environment. If you cannot ensure his/her safety, do not take your child to work. Likewise, make sure that your child will not be harmful to the work environment. Ask a trusted colleague ahead of time to be responsible for your child for a few moments in case an urgent matter arises.
Will your child be going to work on Thursday???