I recently brought along my soon-to-be four-year-old son to the southern Cebu town of Moalboal where I delivered a talk and workshop on feature writing.
My fellow journalist, Doris Bongcac, and I took a three-hour land trip from Cebu City to Moalboal – around 92 kilometers in distance – to help out the student journalists of Cebu Technological University-Moalboal Campus in improving their skills so they can write better stories for their 17-year-old publication, Ang Taga (The Hook).
It has been a habit to tag along one of the three children whenever I needed to work on a Saturday. There is one condition though: my child’s presence should not significantly interfere with my job.
How does that work? Here are some notes…
Not all jobs are child friendly.
Taking your children to work does not always apply to all types of jobs. I don’t know how a defense lawyer, for instance, can focus on defending her client while her daughter is jumping up and down upon seeing Mommy clad in full battle attire cross examining witnesses.
Or what about those who work in sales or serve as cashiers in supermarkets? They cannot obviously bring their children to work. The heart of this first note is this: not all jobs are child friendly. Your company may have a no-children-in-the-office rule or simply… a child’s presence in the office is a big NO because they can be major distractions. Ergo, bringing a child to work equals a distracted parent who won’t be able to perform any job.
But some jobs are…
Child-friendly, yes.
The newsroom of the awesome paper that I write for is one of the most child-friendly workplaces I have ever been to.
I’m not praising this culture because I work there.
There is just this general warm and welcoming atmosphere for children in the newsroom that reporters and editors are not afraid to bring their children to work. There is always food available for sharing, and workmates are tolerant of children turning the newsroom into their own playground (although as a parent, you don’t want to get irresponsible and let the inmates run the asylum, so to speak). Children can borrow toys and books from anyone who has these materials.
Marketwatch came out with an article in April 2016 which talked about companies which allows parents to bring their children to work everyday.
The Arizona Department of Health Services, which has an infants-at-work policy, is one of only 200 companies in the USA which allows this. I don’t know of companies in the Philippines which has a similar policy. All I know is that most mothers I know – myself included – are hard pressed to find a hired help who can take care and look after our children while we’re doing our jobs to pay the electric and water bills and make sure that there’s corned beef and scrambled eggs on the breakfast table. You get what I mean…
When you are allowed to bring your kid(s) to work, be responsible.
I have two almost four-year-old rugrats and a one-year-old mutant. They are cute and adorable based on testimonials from different people of varied age groups and social status. (See what I did there? Ha!)
But I only bring one child at a time.
For instance, I brought Antoinette with me two Saturdays ago to an outreach activity. Last Saturday, it was Nicholas who joined me in a lecture-workshop. Sure I get asked all the time why I didn’t bring the other twin because “it would have been so cute to have a photo with them”.
Take courage and don’t be pressured to take your entire battalion of cutie pies. Take only what you can control. Otherwise, you’ll be spending the whole day breaking up fist fights and comforting bored and tired minions.
Age matters. Personality too!
Very much so.
Personally, I don’t bring my one-year-old to work without Ate Joy because he’s a carousel on constant spin. Unlike the twins who, most of the time, listen to my instructions (e.g. sit down and color these pictures), Jeff Jr. could not stop himself from moving around and shoving things in his nose and mouth.
He needs maximum supervision so I don’t bring him along if it’s just me and I have a proposal or article to finish at work. If age doesn’t work for you, then try mood and personality. Some children find it extremely boring to spend time at their mother’s workplace so they’ll trash it by summoning their inner monsters. If you don’t want to get fired, then carefully evaluate if your children can be manageable and/or behaved enough to survive the eight-hour work day.
Lastly, bring your anti-tantrum weapons.
And by weapons I mean a long list of necessities to keep them busy. In our case, tablets and electronic gadgets are our last resort. Our list consists of books, a toy or two (e.g. a black toy car), crayons, stickers, pencils, notebooks, coloring books, change of clothes, crackers (not biscuits), water, diapers (if needed) and wet wipes, among others. In short, keep them interested and entertained and be ready for any eventuality.
Do you know a company in Cebu (Philippines) and around the country which allow parents to bring their children to work? Please let us know by writing on our comments sections below.
