Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work(-Life Balance) Day

By Rebeldad Brian Reid

Today is Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day, which -- judging from the comments to last year's free-for-all posting on the topic -- is either a wonderful chance to give children some much needed perspective on their working parents or a day of headaches and lost productivity.

TODASTWD is supposed to be a celebration of labor, a kind of informational job fair for adolescents. The official Web site for the event talks about how the event helps "build their self-esteem" and allows children to "discover there are limitless opportunities."

But there's also a bit about helping kids "figure out how their future work, home, and community life fit together," but the site doesn't do into much detail about how TODASTWD is supposed to do that. Indeed, this blog is a testament to the fact that a huge number of adults have yet to figure out how their current work, home and community life fit together.

The fact that TODASTWD -- launched in 1993 as a daughters-only event -- now includes sons makes it even more important that balance be part of the open discussion of what work-life balance today looks like. I think it's vital that boys are brought early on into the discussion about the ways that work and family intersect for moms and dads, when they're less warped by assumptions about gender roles. And TODASTWD seems like as good an opportunity as any to kick start that discussion.

While the Wall Street Journal's Juggle blog is hosting a worthwhile discussion on how parents and kids can use the day to have heart-to-heart talks about work, I'm curious to know if there are any companies that see any value in broaching the subject of "how ... work, home, and community life fit together." Do any of you in TODASTWD-celebrating workplaces know if your agenda for the day includes any discussion of work-life balance?

Brian Reid writes about parenting and work-family balance. You can read his blog at rebeldad.com.

By Brian Reid |  April 26, 2007; 8:20 AM ET  | Category:  Workplaces
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