If you ask a 4th grade student what their parents do for a living you may be surprised at their response. My daughter, Caroline, knows I work on a computer but beyond that, it is a mystery to her. My husband works from home, which gives her many opportunities to see what he is doing, while I drive off into the sunrise with my coffee each morning. At dinnertime, I usually make it a point to ask her about her day at school and any projects she is working on. I wouldn’t think my workday would be interesting to a kid, but when I asked her if she wanted to come to work with me, she happily accepted.
On Bring Your Child to Work Day, Caroline is seen here photographing her own greeting card design to be included in a catalog spread.
After our commute and reading all of the billboards along the roadway, we arrived at the office. Going up the elevator to my floor and swiping in were big hits. The first order of business was creating a name tag. With the help of one of our Art Techs, a rainbow name tag was printed and proudly worn. The next task on the list was to design a greeting card. This was especially fun for Caroline and later in the day, our Graphics Manager helped her photograph her card in an environment shot. The photo was printed and added to a catalog spread just as we do for our real catalogs. The Analysis Team gave the kids a word search where they had to find some of our better-known customers like Burger King and Duracell. Other activities included filing, shredding, and filling out a questionnaire about our photo Christmas cards. Last, but not least, a pizza lunch was provided and for dessert, the Graphics Manager served pudding in flowerpots with cookie crumb dirt and flowers.
The ride home and busy day lulled Caroline to sleep and gave me time to reflect. As a working mom, I sometimes second-guess myself when it comes to balancing my time at home with my time at work. Spending the day with Caroline and sharing what I do helped her to understand who I am as a person as well as opening her mind to opportunities and experiences for her own future.