How Can You Celebrate “Take Your Daughter (or Son) to Work Day” When You Work at Home?

In a very real sense, work at home parents celebrate “Take Your Child to Work Day” every day. But once a year it’s the official day, April 26 this year, and your child may have questions about it. How can you make the day special when your child is around your work every day?

1. Send them to work with someone else.

If your kids are used to seeing you work at home, what about having them see how someone else works? Send them to work with your spouse or a friend, and get a day’s break yourself.

The great part for you is that you get more quiet time to get your work done.

Obviously, your child needs to be old enough to be well behaved all day if they’re to go to someone’s office or other place of work. Don’t send the little kids.

Of course, children should only be sent in to work if employers are agreeable to the idea. You don’t want anyone to be in trouble at work because there’s a kid hanging around all day with them. The best places to send them are companies that plan for the day and have activities the children can really participate in. If kids aren’t really welcome or would interfere too much, don’t even try it. You want others to respect the work you do, make sure you respect theirs.

2. Have your child be more involved in your work.

If your kids are staying home with you, get them more involved than usual on “Take Your Child to Work Day.” They probably have a general notion of what you do, maybe even help you with bits, but what more can you teach them about your work? This is a great time to show them some of the details.

Don’t forget to include the challenges involved with working at home, such as dealing with the household chores, caring for the kids and so forth. It’s great to help your children see the kind of balance you have to strike in order to earn a living from home. Just make sure you emphasize the importance of taking your work seriously. If work needs to get done, the chores can probably wait.

3. Discuss careers they’re interested in.

Kids usually have a pretty good idea about the careers they’re interested in. Their ideas may not always be especially realistic and may bear no resemblance to the fields they eventually go into, but it rarely hurts to let them explore a genuine interest. Find out what they’d like to do when they grow up and help them learn more about that career choice. It doesn’t matter whether or not you think it’s realistic or they’ll stick with it, just take a better look at career options with your child.

Of course, it’s not always possible to take your child out of school to bring him or her to work. I don’t doubt that my daughter’s school would resist the idea, as they’re doing STAR testing this week. Still, you can consider whether regular school, state tests or seeing you at work is really most beneficial to your child this Thursday.

Also, remember that since you’re at home, you can teach your kids about the work you do anytime you like. You don’t have to wait for the calendar to tell you to. You’re an example to them all the time.