Teach your children to appreciate your business by taking them to work with you. For many entrepreneurs, work takes up a large portion of their waking hours. Entrepreneurs with children often have to explain to their children why they are working instead of playing with their children or attending the children’s events. For entrepreneurs who must spend a lot of time at work and miss many family events it is a good idea to take your children to work from time to time.
Often the work that parents do is a mystery to their children. The children may understand on an intellectual level what it is that their parents do, but that is very different from understanding why doing that work takes so many hours. When you bring your child to work and she is able to spend the day watching what you do, how you do it and all the people involved in the process it is often an eye-opening experience for them. It is one thing to hear how hard your job is and how much you need to do at work each day, it is a different thing altogether for them to see you at work putting out fires, doing a million tasks and missing lunch due to the workload.
Even if you are a work at home person you can take your child to work with you. Show your child what you do each day. Sit where you normally sit and do what you normally do. Let your child see you make the calls, answer the emails, write proposals, do research, pay the bills and whatever else it is you do. When your child sees that you actually work at home all day and that you are not sitting in the living room watching television it will give your child a good appreciation and respect for what it is you do.
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There are some business places that are not suitable for children during normal hours. In those cases, take your child into work after hours or when the business is closed so they can see the office, the machinery, the space itself. It is a powerful thing for your child to be able to see, touch and smell where you spend your time and where you get the money to support the family. It is important to make your business a real and tangible thing for your children.
The experience of taking your child to work gives the child a real sense of what work is and who you are and why you must spend time away from her to work. Another benefit of taking your children to work is that it enables them to see themselves in your position. A child who sees her mother the entrepreneur in action will believe that she can have her own business. Even if she does not take over your business or open a similar one, she will see that she can have her own business someday. That is a powerful message. After all, children believe what we say and what they see. So take the time to show your child your business.
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It is fantastic to teach your children to appreciate your business by taking them to work with you. So, the question for you this fantastic day is, do you ever take your children to work?
If you want to read more about work and children, check out these articles.
The Family that Works Together Stays Together
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Take Your Child to Work – It’s Fantastic
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