I vaguely remember being eleven or so and going to Take Your Child to Work Day – I sat on the floor of my mother’s office and took an aptitude test, and then I played with dolls as she, you know, worked. I still can’t say how seeing a real-live attorney’s office up close in my formative years has impacted my particular (read: vague) career trajectory…but I do remember how curious it was to see “work” demystified. Here was my mom’s office, I remember thinking. Where she spends most of her time. And these are the desks and tables, this is the common room…all of this was before NBC’s The Office made it big, mind. I understand now that a workspace – any workspace – is an important thing for young’ns to perceive. It’s rare, when you’re small, to glimpse adulthood. To even imagine your future place in it.
But where did this funky tradition come from, anyways? The Ms. Foundation founded the “Take Your Child…”celebration in 1992, when it was originally called “Take Your Daughter to Work Day,” and was chiefly concerned with correcting gender inequalities in the workplace. Daughters should hear – from the most reliable sources possible – that they could grow up and be firefighters, doctors, lawyers, what have you. “Take Your Daughter to Work Day” expanded to include the boys in 2003, and now it’s a big career-oriented shindig for all kiddies across the states. And in honor of the day’s feminist roots and lingering impact, here are some neat photos of babies on the job:
Here, kids at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center take in the argument for exploration-outside-the-earth.
HRH Princess Estelle of Sweden brought along some friends as she opened an exhibition. Sweden’s Take Your Child to Work Day was this past April 14th.
Take Your Daughter to Work…Blue Man Group style.
First Lady Michelle Obama answers questions from all the children of White House staffers.
…and some kids get a glimpse of bakery life.
A little girl takes her first blood pressure reading.
An awesome engineer Dad demonstrates his COOLEST JOB EVER.
The Kennedy children in the Oval Office.
Architect of the day Marlo Thomas has defined the mission of “Take Your Child…” best: “the goal of the program was to help raise girls’ confidence, academic aggressiveness and future employability to the same levels as their male classmates.” Though now we seek to motivate all children with a trip to the office, equality in the workplace is a crucial thing to keep in mind. Look at how EMPOWERED all these future careerists are!
Anyone else got cute pics? Post below!
Images courtesy of Mlive.com, Pinterest, IMGUR and Arrested Development Wikia.
