Today I gave my son Hank an option; he could hang out at the house and watch a movie, or he could go on rounds with my Dad. My Dad has a part-time job as a security guard and must make the 2-hour trek checking building locks each day. My son enthusiastically chose to go with my Dad. It wasn’t that he didn’t know it was work, he did. The fact is, my son thinks work is cool.
He loves to ask me about my work and often sets up his own “work” in his playroom, mimicking my office set-up with his playroom table and play cash register as a computer. His favorite play activity is pretending to work in a variety of professions including the classics such as firefighting and police work, along with some unique professions such as lifeguarding, housekeeping, and very recently he spent an afternoon pretending to be a furniture salesperson (I had to buy my own sofa before I could sit on it).
He enjoys work because we’ve made a point to let him know that work is not a bad thing. Work is not something that keeps us away from our kids. Instead, work is an important part of our lives that we enjoy. Work allows us to have the home, food and other things in our lives. I think this is an important part of my family friendly work. We have embraced work instead of making it a bad thing. As a result, our kids do not resent our work, or resent us for working.
