Take Your Daughter to Work Day | Take Your Sons, Too

Your world is their world

Having and holding on to employment has always been important. If you’re employed, you are eligible to apply for payday cash advance loans and debt consolidation through a variety of companies, including Personal Money Store.

This is true if you must support yourself financially in life, and it is even more important if you have a family to care for. But regardless of your situation, having a healthy work-life balance is essential to maintaining your entire being. If you have young children, it is important to teach them the value of good work from an early age, and to share with them what it is that you do when you are away from home for 8-10 hours per day. It’s a great chance to connect with your youngsters on a new level.

This is exactly what Take Your Daughter to Work Day (today, April 23) was designed to provide, although now it should rightly be called “Take Your Child to Work Day,” because it encompasses Take Your Son to Work Day, too.

A day of sharing

Michele and Lexie of Seattle’s Examiner.com share the history of this special day in a fun article. Apparently, the practice has been going on for the past 16 years. Parents bring their children to their workplaces to share a day in the life with them. The program officially began in 1993, when the Ms. Foundation for Women (MFW) asked that the fourth Thursday of April, which is generally a day that children are in school. This is appropriate, however, because this should be a learning experience for them. Many schools prepare the kids by gearing their curriculum around careers on this day, and many businesses also extend special programs to workers and their children.

According to the article authors, the original goal of the program was to “show girls that women belonged in the workplace.” Parents wanted to teach their daughters that they could be successful in any career path they chose, despite any negative stereotypes that may linger in unenlightened segments of society. When mothers bring daughters to work, they are acting as role models for their children. The same holds true with fathers and sons, mothers and sons and fathers and daughters on this special day. Warlene Gary, CEO of the National PTA, said that “Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day is an opportunity for parents to share part of their work life with children and to show them that work is an integral part of everyone’s life.”

Sons need time, too

Which is why the program was expanded in 2003. Why did it take 10 years?  Breaking news: there’s no guarantee that feminists, chauvinists and folks betwixt and between are enlightened. “We need to look at how girls and boys can progress together,” said then-president of the MFW, Marie Wilson, to Parade Magazine in 2002.  “Boys are cutting off a part of themselves every day to live up to the image of masculinity in America. Every man and woman lives under the shadow of these stereotypes.”  In the name of progress, the program came to be known as “Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day.”

Not including boys from the start garnered its rightful share of criticism. I applaud the fact that a few sex-discrimination lawsuits were filed by men’s rights activists. In a flourish of unbelievability, the MFW claimed that lawsuits were irrelevant to the decision to expand.

Riiiiight

Now things are as they should have been since the dawn of human civilization. The program is a national event, and workplaces are typically more than happy to take part. According to Michele and Lexie, 2009’s theme “Building Partnerships To Educate And Empower,” which is a noble endeavor. If you’d like to learn more about Take Our Sons and Daughters to Work Day, visit the official Web site.

Related Video: