Take Your Toddler to Work Day: Live Blog!

editors — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 17:35:00 GMT

In celebration of Take Your Sons and Daughters to Work Day, the Babble staff decided to bring our children into the office. Of course, all of our children are between the ages of 1 month and 4 years, so the concept was a little bit lost on them, but it was fun nonetheless. Here's the play-by-play. And check out the photo gallery on Babble's Facebook page!

10am - Ada (Editor in Chief) and Oliver (2) arrive on time, with snacks.

10:15am - Gwynne (Senior Editor) and Anselm (1) arrive late. Oliver demonstrates that his toy taxi cab goes vroom. Anselm is confused.

10:20 am - Alisa (Co-Publisher) arrives with Declan (4) and Grey (1). Declan brings a rocket ship with a hollow compartment "for satellites," immediately swaps it for Oliver's taxi.

10:30 am - The kids invade the Nerve.com office next door. Oliver and Declan commandeer the pool table, which is approximately as tall as Oliver.

10:35 am - Anselm discovers the official Take Your Sons and Daughters To Work Day balloons that were sent to our office, happily chases a balloon back to Babble HQ.

10:40 am - April (Blogs and Community Manager) arrives with Judah (5 weeks) -- first time back in the office since maternity leave! Judah is ridiculously cute. While we're oohing over him, Oliver and Declan take off for hte conference room, where they draw on the dry erase board and have pretend meetings, wherein they determine that taxis and spaceships are both cool, and that they have great potential as a future revenue stream.

11:00 am - Anselm tries his first carbonated beverage: Mandalee (Babble Head Designer)'s Perrier. He spits it out and then immediately drinks some more.

11:10 am - First meltdown! Anselm attempts to pull the plug on Gwynne's computer, gets very upset when his efforts are thwarted.

11:15 am - Snacktime. Popcorn, Cheerios, raisins, bagels and apple juice. To all future employees of our office building: this is the moment all those Cheerios found their way into the floorboards, window sills and air ducts.

11:25 am - Oliver makes the rounds in the office saying "goodbye" to everyone, apparently under the impression that he is leaving. He waits for the elevator, determines he is not yet leaving, shrugs and returns to the pool table.

11:30 am - Three of Declan's neighborhood friends arrive. MASS CHAOS!

11:35 am - Oliver discovers "Wow Wow Wubzy" toy sent by Nickelodeon people. Anselm discovers roll of masking tape. Grey discovers balloons. Joy reigns.

11:40 am - Running. Lots of running. Gwynne and Ada take turns watching each other's kids so they can write this all up.

11:45 am - Judah falls asleep amid the chaos. He is officially cutest baby in history of world. Were all these other loud, busy, chattery kids ever so tiny? Impossible.

11:47 am - Some kids are crying in the conference room. Oliver has climbed into his stroller and is sitting there patiently waiting to go in the elevator. We have gotten absolutely no work done. Except this. Happy Take Your Children to Work Day!

For more "Take Your Children to Work Day" coverage, check out Jeanne Sager's article "Me and My Shadow."

Take Your Kid to Work, But Don't Let them Take Control of a City Train

JeanneSager — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 13:08:00 GMT

There's take your kid to work day, then there's put half a city at risk day. A trolley driver in Boston has been reprimanded by the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority for letting his son and nephew get behind the wheel.

A pissed off passenger (wouldn't you be?) took pictures of the man and two kids and posted them on Craigslist. Michael Critz listed what trolley the picture was taken on, the date and time, and posted a link back to his own Website.

Critz expresses sympathy for a dad having to work on a holiday weekend and admits we all make mistakes. He worried what would happen to himself - it's illegal to take photos on MBTA, a rule enacted after 9/11 - but Critz said he decided it was more important to protect others. Beyond the distractions the two boys could potentially be to a driver who needs to keep his attention on the tracks at all times, Critz said the kids were dangerously close to the main controls of the trolley. That includes the emergency stop button (the big red button in Critz's photo, above).

The MBTA told the Boston Herald that the 45-year-old driver has been disciplined before. He was suspended for three days last year for using a cell phone while operating the train.

As a mom, I know what it's like to have to suddenly take my daughter to work because the babysitter called out. I'm lucky that my job has allowed me to take my daughter with me a large percentage of the time, and allowed me to work from home when there was simply no other option. But before heading out to interview someone at their house or even in their office, I always warn people she's coming. I also find a sitter or call on a friend when I'm heading somewhere that she just shouldn't be. And I'm not putting hundreds (or potentially thousands) of people's lives at risk. I don't drive a train. But I'd like to think I could trust the people who do - with my life and the life of my own kid.

Sometimes we feel like our bosses just don't understand what it's like to be a parent, and sometimes we're right. MomsRising, an advocacy group for working moms, estimates 100 million American workers don't have paid sick days so they can take the day off to care for a child. Based on a Children's Defense Fund Study, MomsRising says even parents who have the sick days don't necessarily have enough money to pay a daycare when their child is well. The study found childcare costs anywhere from $4,000 to $10,000 a year.

But work is still work. Unless your boss has said, "Oh yeah, bring 'em along," kids don't belong in the workplace.

Image: Michael Critz

Strollerderby : take your child to work day

Take Your Toddler to Work Day: Live Blog!

Take Your Kid to Work, But Don't Let them Take Control of a City Train