If you are an entrepreneur, it may be a good idea to take your children to work from time to time. Most people work because they need the money. Often children do not understand why their parents spend so much time at work. If you take them to work, they can see for themselves what it is you do and why you spend so many hours doing it.
Let your children see what you do so they can understand what you do and why you do it.
Many parents have been curious about what their children do at school all day. They are familiar with the building and have a vague idea about what goes on inside, but they are curious about what actually happens with their children all day long. Children have a similar curiosity about what their parents do at work all day long. If your children are curious about what you do at work all day long, dress them up and take them to work with you.
When they can see with their own eyes where you go and what you do, it gives them a piece of comfort and ease that merely hearing stories do not provide. When they see where you work, what you actually do, and how you do it, their questions are answered and their level of appreciation and comfort is increased. It is an easy way to make your children feel comforted, appreciative and proud all in one fell swoop.
When you take your children to work, keep their age in mind. For example, young children will not be able to behave appropriately at your place of employment for extended periods of time. If your children are too young to come to your job for extended periods of time, or it is not possible, take them by your office on your day off. Explain you are not working that day but you want them to see where you work.
Then pull out your smartphone and do an internet search and show your children your work being done either at your company or a similar company. Being at the place where you work and seeing the work being done on your phone will be sufficient for young children.
It is important to remember to respect the confidentiality of information when you bring your children to work. You cannot trust children to keep confidential information to themselves. If you have ever tried to get a child to keep a present secret from a spouse or one of their siblings, you know children are not the best secret keepers. It is unreasonable to ask them to keep corporate or client secrets.
Before you realize it, the secret will slip out to a friend and be all over social media. This is not acceptable and it is not a position you should put your child in. Instead, keep them away from that pressure and temptation. Do not expose your children to confidential corporate or client information. If there is no way to do that while they are visiting your job, this is another situation where a visit to the building and an internet search will get the job done.
When describing your job to your children, be sure to make it sound interesting. No matter what your job is, your children will have more respect for it and for you if you make the work sound interesting. Even if you have the absolutely most boring job on the planet earth, suck it up and find a way to show enthusiasm for it when talking to your children about it. The goal is to have your children respect you and what you do.
This means you must respect what you do and appreciate the work. Do not get overly technical when talking about work. Do not use industry-specific jargon. It does not make you sound more important. It makes it sound as if you have something to hide. By explaining what you do in simple, everyday words your children can understand you keep them interested and engaged in what you do. Children are more likely to respect something they can understand than things that confuse them and make no sense.
When you take your children to work, tell them how your job fits into the world around them.
When your children understand that what you do is part of making the world a better place, they will appreciate the work you do. No matter what your job is, it is part of the larger economy, part of what it takes to make the world work. Often when we help our children see how we are part of a bigger picture, they have a deeper and better appreciation for the work you do.
Help them understand your place in the universe.
When you explain your work to your children, be sure to tell them how what you do fits into the world at large. No matter what you do, it is related to some larger picture. For example, you may be a housekeeper at a Fortune 500 company. Your job is important. It is important because the people at your company can do their job better because you provide a clean, well-stocked workplace. Because you are there and keeping the floors clean, the trash cans empty, and the toilets in order, other employees can do their work. If you are the president of that same Fortune 500 company, the work you do helps directly provide jobs for perhaps thousands of people in the office building. So whether you are a housekeeper or Fortune 500 president, your job is part of a larger picture, a piece of a bigger puzzle.
No matter what your job is, when you show your children where you work, make sure to behave as if you are proud of the work you do. It is important for children to have a good impression of your work and to know that all legal work has merit, and honor and should be appreciated. When your children think you have no pride in what you do, they pity you for having to work. If they pity the work you do, it will give them a negative view of work. It is important not to give your children a bad taste in their mouths about work.
After all, one day they will need to find work in order to support themselves and their family members. You want them to feel good about that prospect. You do not want them to be filled with dread about the prospect of going to work each day once they are adults. It is important to show your children that you appreciate your job because it is a way to teach them to appreciate and find good in situations they encounter.
If you work at home, you can still give your children the “go to work with the parent” experience. Take your children to your office area. Let them see what you do and how you do it. When they see that you are actually working and not merely playing in your office or on the computer, they will have more respect and appreciation for what you do. It is important for you to make it clear to your children that when you work at home, you are working.
This way when you tell them you are working they will respect your words and you will be able to work with fewer interruptions. Parents playing on the computer can be interrupted at will. Parents who are working on the computer cannot be disturbed. Explain to your children how what you do at home matters to the world because it is part of a larger picture. Show them all the steps in the process and where your piece fits in. Children understand puzzles so when you explain your piece of the puzzle, they will understand and they will get it. It will surprise you, but they will get it.
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When you take your children to work with you, it helps them understand what you do, why you do it, and how your work fits into the world at large. So, the question for you on this fantastic day is, have you ever taken your children to work with you?
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