“Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day” is on April 25, and I think we should try something different this year: Let’s take our daughters and sons to grandma’s.
The Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day Foundation says that April 25 is designed to be more than just a career day — more than the practice of “shadowing” an adult in the workplace.
It’s equally important to show children “the value of their education, helping them discover the power and possibilities of work and family life … ”
It’s about “providing boys and girls a chance to share how they envision the future, and allowing them to begin steps toward their goals in a hands-on and interactive environment … ”
I couldn’t agree more. That’s why we need to take our kids to grandma’s this year.
Look, it’s important to prepare our children for their work future, so they may make good livings to provide for themselves and their families — people without skills that are valuable to employers are especially struggling right now as food and housing costs continue to soar.
But let’s remember that work is not everything, and that having a career in a big corporation is not all it is cracked up to be — not when you factor in corporate politics, the occasional nasty person who makes everyone else’s working life unpleasant, and that your corporate employer will happily drop you in your peak middle-aged earning years in favor of someone younger, who will work for half the cost.
The truth is, the most important lessons about becoming a successful adult are best taught by grandma.
Grandma will take her grandchildren for a nice walk in the woods in the sweet spring air, showing them different plants and flowers and how to steer clear of poison ivy.
She’ll tell them stories about colorful and cherished family members who have passed on — especially grandpa, who she made a wonderful life with during 66 years of marriage.
She’ll tell them what life was like when she was a child, long before there was a smartphone in every pocket — long before noise and chaos were wreaking havoc on the minds of today’s children.
She’ll tell them how simple childhood used to be. That a child’s job is to play — to nurture the imagination and grow and develop the mind.
Grandma, after all, is the only person on Earth who knows the difference between what is and isn’t really important in this fleeting life, and she knows that nobody ever left this world wishing they’d spent more time at the office.
Yes, developing marketable skills is important, and children should be taught such lessons.
But as our culture becomes increasingly rude and so many hearts are becoming so rigid and hard, it’s equally important to teach kindness, compassion, manners and how all of us should treat others the way we wish to be treated.
Grandma can teach these life skills better than anyone.
Now that I think of it, maybe we should make “Take Your Daughters and Sons to Grandma’s” its own special day every spring!
Find Tom Purcell’s syndicated column, humor books and funny videos featuring his dog, Thurber, at TomPurcell.com. Email him at Tom@TomPurcell.com.