One of my favorite activities with my children has come in April each year as Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day has rolled around. Each of my children has spent the day with me at work several different times and learned more about what I do during those long hours away from home. And I suspect those annual experiences may have helped my oldest son have a desire to work in my career field.
The Concept of the Program
Beginning in 1993, the Ms. Foundation for Women has sponsored "Take Your Daughter to Work Day" in an effort to better introduce our girls to the world of work. In 2003, the program was changed to a "Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work" program, broadening the reach and appeal to children of both genders.
In our area, many school children also participate in a "Job Shadow Day" each year on February 2 in honor of Groundhog Day. It is the same concept-spending a day out of school seeing how work is done in the real world. Children learn what a day in the life of a working person is like, and when it is your child with you, it has the added advantage of building better parent-child understanding.
Getting Your Workplace Involved
The best experiences I have had with Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day have been at workplaces where the program was embraced. The Ms. Foundation recommends that every worksite have a program coordinator assigned, often in the Human Resources Department, to put activities together for Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day. If you don't have a formal approach to the program at your workplace, visit with your Human Resources Department or possibly an employee association representative about it.
But even without formal sponsorship, you can make the program work on a lesser scale by just coordinating with other parents at work. Maybe you organize something during the lunch hour where you take the kids out to lunch or share a "brown bag" experience with other parents. Just make sure your employer is OK with you bringing your children to work for all or part of the day.
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