Home Delivery

How about a day for relaxing?

Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day shows just one side

BY HELAINE OLEN | Helaine Olen is the co-author of "Office Mate: The Employee Handbook for Finding and Managing Romance on the Job" and a contributor to the forthcoming book "The Maternal Is Political."

April 24, 2008

Article tools

E-mail

Share
- Digg
- Del.icio.us
- Facebook
- Fark
- Google
- Newsvine
- Reddit
- Yahoo

If the past is any guide, several million children nationwide will accompany their parents to work today, participating in the annual rite of spring known as Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day. Moms and dads across the United States will allow their kids to play in their offices, running through cube farms and "assisting" at cash registers, all in the name of breaking down the mystique that exists between work and family.

Yet in a world of home offices, moms on the playground taking business calls by cell phone, and dads answering queries on their BlackBerries at school events, it's quite likely that children are all too aware of the importance of paid employment to their parents. What they really need is a lesson in the value of taking time to kick back and relax.

The United States is, after all, a nation of workaholics. Studies show that about 40 percent of workers log at least 50 hours a week on the job. We're one of the few industrialized countries that don't guarantee workers even one paid day off a year. Even the notoriously work-happy Japanese get 10 vacation days annually.

Moreover, almost a third of all U.S. workers don't even bother to take all the vacation time their employers offer them. And who can blame them, when, according to a study released last week, close to 20 percent of workers say they've canceled or postponed getaways because of job commitments?

Another survey found that when we do get out of the office, we have a hard time letting go, with a third of employees remaining in touch with their colleagues even when they are supposed to be on an extended break.

The folks behind this year's Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day acknowledge that many Americans need the career equivalent of a coffee break. The sponsoring organization says the day should help children discover the "power and possibilities associated with a balanced work and family life," and points out that a recent survey indicated that 81 percent of girls and almost 60 percent of boys say that when they're adults in the workforce, they'd like to reduce their work hours when they become parents.

Perhaps that's a reflection of their own often-hectic lives. Many American kids are already active participants in our nation's always-on-the-go lifestyle. They begin in infancy, with participation in the numerous baby-skills classes offered by corporate play behemoths such as Gymboree, and quickly progress to the brave new world of American childhood, where free play on the block is eschewed in favor of organized drills in areas ranging from Spanish tutoring to soccer. Weekends are crammed with competitive sporting events, often taking place miles away from home.

It's undeniably true that our children crave knowledge about the world of adult employment. But the computer and telecommunications revolution of the past few decades has broken down the separation between work and home, allowing kids to see - at least in part - some of what mom and dad do to earn a living. But the same changes that allow parents the flexibility to leave the office in the middle of the day to take a child to a doctor's appointment have eaten away at unstructured time, leaving many workers feeling as though they are always on call.

There's only one solution. We need an official event to teach America's children about the importance of downtime. We can call it Let Your Daughters and Sons See Mom and Dad Do Absolutely Nothing Day. Any takers?

Get breaking news | Most popular stories | Dining and Travel deals all via e-mail!

Would you recommend this?

Rate it: