For my 7yo, hearing she couldn’t go to Take Your Child to
Work Day at daddy’s office until she turned eight was, well, horrifically
painful, soul-torturing, complete and total devastation. Everyone was doing it. She turned to me for
options.
“Can I stay home with you and write?”
“Well, I hardly write on Thursdays, because your sister is
home.”
“Can I stay home with you and write?”
“No, you can’t stay home to watch me not work.”
“Can I stay home with you and write?”
“Do you have potatoes in your ears?”
“I don’t like potatoes.”
“Right. Well, I was going to write tonight. If you get your
homework done, I’ll take you to work with me.”
“Like in the office?”
“Yes. Like. In the office.”
Then I realized if I was going to make it legitimate, I
needed to be able to explain what I do. The truth is, well, squishy. I spend a
lot of time writing in my head while staring at the swan across the street.
Sometimes writing means just banging my head on the desk. Often it just looks
like me pacing around muttering, “Swayed? No. Shimmied? No. Sashayed? No?
Skippidoodliedooed? No! Argh, what is the perfect word???”
I decided to save that reality check for when she tells me
she wants to be a writer. For today, I would keep it simple.
So in honor of Take Your Child to Work Day, here is what I
do:
I could have gone super: idea, write, make it better, and blam-o—a
finished book! But I wanted to be more accurate and at least include the idea
of drafts which they learn about in first grade (yes, that’s true!) and
critique which is such an important part of the process.
Happy Take Your Child to Work Day!
