Take Your Child to Work Day

Today was "Take Your Child to Work Day," the event which started several years ago as a daughters-only outing but which quickly evolved to include both girls and boys.

Our workplace, like others, was invaded with little ones--all ages, all shapes and sizes, boys and girls. And, the funnest story of the day was from a friend who had brought his two kids into work. They paired up with some others and were asked to sit outside a conference room while the parents held a business meeting. The area where the kids hung out is a waiting room between two stodgy conference rooms--a room we call "the sofa room" because of the classic pieces of furniture which reside there and upon which no fannies ever sit.

When two of the parents came out of the conference room and their meeting, they encountered an interesting sight--the children had dismantled the sofas and turned them into a fort.

What child hasn't done that at some point in his or her life? A fort, constructed of pillows and seat cushions, to ward off the evil of the world outside and designed with the ingenuity of children.

As my friend related the story to me, I thought, "something tells me those kids have their priorities in place and their act together far more than any of us here in corporate America." It was an innocent, genuine moment that seemed perfect. It may not be what the original organizers of this special day had in mind, but it's an apt illustration that perhaps the adults are the ones who should observe, and learn, on "Take Your Child to Work Day."