The Work It, Mom! Blog
with Nataly
Hi, I am Nataly and I am the co-founder of Work It, Mom!
I write the daily Work It, Mom! Blog where I talk about issues affecting working moms, goings on in our Work It, Mom! community, new site features, updates,and contests. I also share my own juggle between work and family and love to see members jump in with comments. Come and visit often!
Nataly's profile on Work It, Mom!
Why bringing your kids to work is good for… them
Categories: Balancing Act, Parenting & Family, Working Women Issues
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A few weeks ago I wrote about worrying that I’m giving my daughter the wrong impression of what it means for her mom to work. I come home tired, I complain (too often) about having too much work, that kind of stuff. Well, I think I discovered one solution to making sure that my kiddo doesn’t think that my work is all about making me tired or that all it involves is my sitting in front of a computer:
Bring her to work with me.
OK, this isn’t a brilliant revelation — I’ve brought her to work with me many times before and she loves coming to the office (scooters, treats, playing with the iPad.. it’s a pretty fun place to be). But today when she was with me at the office I did something I hadn’t done before: I actually brought her with me to meetings where she saw me work. I also showed her some of the Power Points I was working on and we looked at my calendar together when I had to figure out my next business trip.
Of course she didn’t understand anything I was saying in meetings or writing in my Power Points, not the least because our iPad came with her everywhere. But I saw her watching me and people I work with and be engaged in a different way than when I’d bring her before and she would hang out in my office watching cartoons. And you know what? It felt really good to show her that my days are busy, dynamic, involve lots of people and conversations, some of which clearly make me smile and some of which make me tell her that we’re going out for cupcakes NOW because mommy needs a break. I want as much as possible to be a good, strong, positive role model for her and while I have no idea whether seeing me work accomplishes this, my gut tells me that it does.
As we were driving home at the end of the day I asked her, after seeing me work all day, what would she say I do at work. “You talk, a LOT. I mean, a LOT a LOT,” she said, adding some emphatic hand gestures to illustrate me talking (and yes, I do talk with my hands). “But people do listen to you. I know because I saw them all look at you and not interrupt when we went to meetings.”
Thanks, kiddo!
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What a great idea! I’m going to try this when my kids are older. I can relate when my kids say “you talk A LOT” haha! Great post Nataly, I am a proud member of your ning work it mom group.
Natasha | June 27th, 2011 at 8:58 pm
I did some work from home one day when my younger daughter was sick. The occasion arose where I had to make several work-related phone calls. When I hung up, my daughter walked over from the couch and said, “Wow, you really know what you’re doing. You sounded really important.”
Shelly @ Of Sound Mind and Spirit | June 28th, 2011 at 11:32 am
i love this!
good job mama! i hope to do the same for my kiddos when they are old enough
One might say it’s a family tradition that has a huge impact… i started going to work with my dad for a couple of weeks over the summers when i was in highschool (ok so i was a bit more than 10) and it had a HUGE impact. it was not only interesting to see him in a different way, but to see how other people treated and respected him.
I also got an early introduction to corporate business and culture (IT). This opened up my world, leading to summer internships and eventually a career of my own (at least i knew what i was getting into!).
Nataly, your daughter is so lucky to have you working in such a dynamic environment! she gets to see so many options as she grows up since you are in such a fast changing industry. i think just knowing you have options is a huge lesson in and of itself! Watching how your parents handle those options, make choices, etc. are priceless lessons they don’t even know they are learning.
kate | June 28th, 2011 at 1:22 pm