I'm so grateful I enjoyed my childhood before the enforcement of HIPPA and the full blown enforcement of OSHA - (even though it was founded in 1970. I am a child of the late 70s and 80s; please don't make me any older than I am).
Why, you say?
Because I got to go to work with my mom. A lot. And she worked at nursing homes and convalescent centers for 35 plus years.
I got to sleep overnight on an obnoxiously bright orange vinyl couch in the nursing home lobby. I got to participate in activities on some afternoons and make crafts with the older folks. When mom got off night shift, we would go to breakfast together at this wonderful pancake house where I would order strawberry-topped pancakes piled high with fruit, drippy red syrup and high peaks of whipped cream. I even ordered hot chocolate with MORE whipped cream. But most of all, I got to watch my mom.
I got to watch my mom treat elderly people with kindness, give them their medicines, listen to their woes, hold their hand, and brush their hair. I got to watch a true humanitarian in action. And I got to see how hard my mom worked. And I spent some special moments with her. And, I learned to really love old people.
I wish more people had the chance to take their kids to work. Maybe not all of us can work in a position like nursing, but how great to have those special moments with your kids, giving them a little window into what you do every day. And I don't mean those hokey "bring your kids to work day" when your place of employment plans special kid events and nothing is like your regular routine and you take them around and say, "This is where mommy does this, or this is where daddy does that."
No, they need to SEE you do this and that.
I was about 7 when I went to stay in nursing homes while mom worked. (And mind you, this wasn't every night. I had a lovely babysitter, but there were times the babysitter wasn't available.)
By the time I was in 3rd grade, I went to mom's work every day after school for about an hour and hung out with patients at the nursing home. We didn't do much. I would sit on the couch in the lobby and hang out with one of my favorites, Polly. She loved Guiding Light and a few other soaps. There was one small-ish T.V. in the lounge, and nothing bothered her more than some "old person" wheeling their wheelchair inch-by-inch or parking in front of her soaps. She yelled a few choice words at them - and if they didn't respond, it wasn't unheard of for Polly to jump up and grab onto the handlebars of the wheelchair and shove them out of the way. Off they would sail for several feet, Polly muttering profanity after them. Sheer entertainment. I'd do my homework, listen to Polly cuss, and visit some of my favorite patients in their rooms. I loved it, and I loved them.
If my mom hadn't been permitted to take me to work with her, I don't know if I would have grown up with that same respect and comfort I have with the elderly. I know many of my peers do not have that same attribute, and many are completely turned off by old people - especially at nursing homes. We're all going to get old someday - why does it repel us so?
I digress. The point I'm trying to make is this - if you're a supervisor, and you have the option - let kids come to work with their parents. Not every day. I don't think we would even WANT them there every day. We all need to be productive, we all have work to do - and some workplaces have stringent privacy requirements. I get that. But not all do. Those that have more leniency - well - think about letting it happen. I’m just guessing here, but I don't think a few times a year will drive the business headlong into doom and failure. And what about the days when there weren't daycares and babysitters and this or that to watch our kids? The days when there were more small businesses? People learned at the family business, from young ages. They grew up watching their parents and grandparents work at a trade. They had responsibilities in that same business, from very young ages – probably more responsibilities than our contemporary 16-year olds commonly do. Way more valuable than standardized tests, IMO.
And parents, if you ever are allowed to bring your kids to work a day or so a month - then you teach them how to behave. They must be respectful, quiet, calm, and obedient. They aren't permitted to be disruptive, disrespectful to property or persons, or be rowdy, loud or obnoxious. If your kids are not mature enough to act appropriately, best leave them at home. This is a two way street, and your kids have to earn the privilege, and you have to be authoritative enough to keep them from acting like heathens and ruining it for everybody else.
Anyway, just had to blog about this. School isn't the only place our kids should be learning. In fact, that may be the place they learn the least. Learning about careers, being a good person, being responsible, etc., is often learned best at home or by watching their parents do what they do, whether its homeschooling, banking, office managing, landscaping, graphic arts, nursing or whatever. Kids love to see what their parents do for work - and it needn't be some faraway land that mommy and/or daddy go off too that is shrouded in mystery. Kids should be able to see exactly what their parents do for a living, unless it’s inappropriate, dangerous or illegal.
Let them in. They just may learn something.
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