What Kids Really Learn From Take Your Kid to Work Day

In this episode of No Filter, No Apologies™, we’re taking a closer look at Take Your Kid to Work Day and the role it plays in shaping how kids understand work, careers, and what’s possible for their future.

Originally created as Take Your Daughter to Work Day in 1993, the goal was to expand visibility and expose young women to opportunities beyond traditional career paths. Today, the day has evolved, but the core opportunity is still there.

The question is: what are kids actually learning?

Because whether it’s intentional or not, what they see and experience becomes how they define:

•  what work looks like 
•  what success means 
•  what they believe is possible for themselves 

In this conversation, we unpack:

•  The origins of Take Your Kid to Work Day and why it mattered 
•  How exposure shapes how kids think about careers and leadership 
•  The difference between observing work and experiencing it 
•  How remote work and changing workforce dynamics are influencing what kids see today 
•  How parents and organizations can be more intentional about the experience 

This isn’t about doing more.
 It’s about being more intentional with what we show them.

Because kids are always learning, whether we realize it or not.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the No Filter No Apologies Podcast with Rebecca Sachs and Katie Shapiro.

SPEAKER_01 0:06

Welcome back to another episode of the No Filter No Apologies podcast. And in honor of Take Your Kid to Work Day, which is actually this Thursday, April 23rd, we're going to talk about Take Your Kid to Work Day and where it came from. It was started in 1993 when I was a teenager, and Katie was too. And it actually was started for Take Your Daughter to Work Day so that young women could get exposure to different career opportunities than your typical norms, as I do air quotes. Because most women were going into teaching, nursing, being secretaries or receptionists. And this was an opportunity to expose them to different fields and career opportunities. And I know I honored these days when I was a teenager, and I was able to go with my dad one year for we went on different sales trips and sales meetings. He was in, he sold manufacturing conveyor belting. And so that was kind of cool. We got to go to different manufacturing plants, and there was a lunch that we went out to. And looking back on it now, he was definitely schmoozing someone to try and sell to them. And then another year I went with my mother and was at school with her. So I got to see her teach. She did special education teaching, but also practice inclusion within special education. And so she was always operating within the classroom, partnering with the teacher that she had team teaching with. So I thought that was pretty cool. Did you ever do take your daughter to work day?

SPEAKER_00 1:48

I don't recall it. I also grew up in Philly, and I didn't know it at the time. It's something I can appreciate now. There were so many schools that were specialized that you had the opportunity to attend, and you went to look at these schools. Like they had obviously the academic schools, there were two that were top in academia, but then you had schools that specialized in theater. It was called Kappa and the arts. I shouldn't say just theater, but they specialized in the arts. There were schools that specialized in STEM. There were schools that specialized in trade. And then I actually went to a high school that focused on agriculture. And it was part of your middle school experience to tour these schools. And you would see what else was possible beyond an academic perspective. And I thought it didn't occur to me until just now when you were talking about this. I'm like, I didn't have a structured take your child to work day or take your daughter to work day. But I do remember that as part of growing up where you could see the possibilities of what you could become outside of the academic world.

SPEAKER_01 2:54

Yeah. Yeah. And you had the vocational opportunities like at your disposal, which is nice because most young women during in the 90s did not. You know, growing up in the burbs right across this right across the river from Philly. We always talked about what we wanted to do while we grew up, but never really how to get there or the exposure, right? And so I think the take your daughter to work day was a pivotal thing for our generation, or at least for me it was. Because then I remember as it progressed, 10 years later, it became Take Your Kid to Work Day. And I was bitter about it. I was very angry. I was like, boys should not be allowed because girls are the ones that need more exposure. Boys have all the opportunity, girls don't have all the opportunity. I was very angry about it. But now that I look at it, I think it's it is a great opportunity to be able to share with your children what you do and for them to get that real-time experience and exposure and see you in action, if you will. I've worked in organizations that have take your kid to work day events and they're very structured. A previous organization I was with, they would have children of the ages of five to 18 were able to come in, but they didn't really watch their parents work. It was more about occupying the children why the parents worked and defining what their parents did and making a game out of it or role play. Um they had different activities throughout the day up until noon. And then the kids got to go home with their parents at noon. So if you had kids, you got a half day.

SPEAKER_00 4:36

That's actually cool. But I'm with you. I didn't participate in it as a kid, but working as an extension of human resources, I was often involved in the creation of the program for Take Your Child to Work Day. And it's funny, you and I were talking about this in preparing for this episode, but the goal was more keep the kids entertained and make it fun. And yes, they get the name badge and they get all the exciting things. They get to do the fun things associated with whatever company you were with. I've worked with a few, but they don't actually learn what it is to work and to see what a normal day is. Because on a normal day, you don't walk in on a red carpet and get your picture taken and get an email. So it's sort of what's the word glamorizes, I guess, work instead of really showing kids what are your parents doing every day. And I think that's a disservice to them for when they are preparing for work and also to the parent, so that your kids can see what are you doing when you're away from me for so long and how hard do you work to provide for us. I think there's an opportunity there, missed opportunity that a lot of companies have when creating this.

SPEAKER_01 5:48

Yeah, I totally understand having a lot of children. So, say, for example, you're in a sales environment and you have an open concept, and so you have a sales floor with a bunch of people on the phone. I could see how having a bunch of children on the sales floor with their parents would be totally chaotic and distracting, right? Yeah. But if you give them 30 minutes of time to shadow or watch and see what they're actually doing, you're actually giving them that exposure. And there were some children who were more timid or shy that would prefer to sit with their parents, which they did, but they would be on their iPad. It's not like they were really observing what was happening. Uh, and I think that's that's the whole point. And knowing your your children notice how you are when you come home for the day. And so being able to understand why you're in a good mood or why you're in a bad mood, I think is critical too, because it gives them the opportunity to say, like, do I want to deal with this as I get older? I just think that yes, they're doing a disservice to the whole purpose of take your kid to work day.

SPEAKER_00 6:55

And how frustrating it is if you've worked a long day, especially when you work in a consumer-facing position, any kind of service industry, or like you and I have talent acquisition backgrounds where we're on the phone all day. It's much like sales, too, where you're on the phone and you have to be on all the time. I would get home and I'd be like, I don't want to talk to anyone, I don't want to make a decision. I don't, I just want to be quiet.

SPEAKER_01 7:24

That it's so funny you say that because even like my partner and I now, it's fine. Like at the end of the day, we don't have to talk to one another. We just watch TV. What are we gonna find? And then, okay, what do you want to eat? I don't know. Just tell me what you want to eat and I'll figure it out or whatever.

SPEAKER_00 7:43

But I don't want to make decisions, and I think I may I don't mean to take you back, but you said something, and I think it was we glazed over it a little bit, but it was it was something I didn't know. You said two things. You said that take your child to work day actually started as take your daughters to work day, and then later you said you were super bitter when it changed to take your children to work day. But I think I don't want to glaze over that, especially because our audience is about empowering women, and even I am ignorant to it. I never knew that, right? I think it changed to take your children to work day in 2003. You were sharing with me. I had my first child in 2004, and my first child happened to be a son. So take your child to work day for me. It was great that I got to include him. I did not realize that was initially created to expose young girls and women to what was possible. Yeah. And I think that is huge. I don't know if you can tell our audience a little bit more about that, just why it was created for girls or who it was created by. Because I think understanding the root creation of something makes you value it more and makes you look at it differently. And I know we're talking about, hey, let's not just entertain the kids, let's actually show them what their parents are doing every day and why they're away from them for 40 hours a week. But I also don't want that part to get lost in the sauce of the importance for girls and young women.

SPEAKER_01 9:09

It was really to expose women and young girls to other possibilities outside of the gender norms, right? So you typically were seeing women going into teaching, nursing, being a secretary, and being able to take them to work with their dad or their mom, who maybe in a leadership role just gave them exposure to different opportunities than what those gender norms always were. Or I think I mentioned this on another episode, like my grandfather saying, Oh, she's just gonna get married, no big deal, right? And so you don't have to worry about what my future is because I'm just gonna snatch me up a husband. Not the case.

SPEAKER_02 9:52

Snatch me up a husband.

SPEAKER_01 9:54

Yeah, I think that's really was a big basis behind it. And it was started by the Miz Foundation. And when it was established, I remember my middle school putting posters everywhere every year about it. And it was a big topic of conversation because they were encouraging the girls in the school to go to work with their parents. And it didn't happen when I was in middle school, but I know as I got older, some of the requirements that if you were going to do take your daughter to work day, you would have to come back and write a paper or provide feedback to your class because you were missing a day of school. Like I said, I was in the early stages of it, so I didn't have those responsibilities to take that.

SPEAKER_00 10:36

But also a learning opportunity to go experience that and then have to present and communicate it to your class at a young age or even up to high school is great. I also find it interesting that it only took 10 years because you said created in 1993 and then 2003, it was expanded to include all children. It only took 10 years of that. And I often find that I support inclusive practices 100%. And like I said, I'm a mom to a son and two daughters. So I see both sides of wanting to include, but then I also wonder when you open something up to everyone, do girls get left behind again? Does it lose the meaning for girls?

SPEAKER_01 11:21

Yeah, and that was I like I said, I was really bitter about it. And at that time I was just graduating college, so I wasn't in a space where I was going to work with anyone, or I didn't have any children of my own to take to work with me. But I was bitter because the whole point was that we weren't given the same opportunities that boys or men have been provided in the past. And it was to be able to give us that exposure and put us at the forefront where men had always been or boys have always been. And for us to now it's all kids, but I do also believe in inclusivity, and I think being able to have equal opportunities for both is great, but does it have the same meaning anymore? That's the other piece. And so, yes, you can still take your kids to work, but as we were just saying, these organizations now create more of a fun day than actual exposure to work and what the work environment is, and what if you decide to go into this career, what the career will look like for you.

SPEAKER_00 12:22

Yeah, and I also think it's important. So, again, as a mother to a son and daughters, I have a responsibility to teach my son to see women as equals and also to use his privilege to advocate. And he's a little bit older now, and I've said to him, There are going to be times where you're sitting in a meeting and a female colleague of yours will start speaking and someone will interrupt, or she will start speaking and someone will take credit for her idea. And it's critical for you to recognize those moments and advocate, interrupt, or say, I'd love for Katie to finish her thought, or hey, that thought sounds exactly like what Katie just said, but for him, it's not his lived experience, so he might not notice it unless you create that exposure. And so when we talk about things like exposing kids to what does a meeting look like, and are you including little girls in meetings where they can see women in powerful positions? And if we're opening it up to both genders or more even non-binary, are you seeing people who look like you in leadership so you know what's possible? You can still create that, what's possible for them, and you create it in a better way, where young men grow up going, oh yeah, I remember from Take Your Child to Work Day, there were a lot of women in these meetings and in leadership positions, and it's normal to them, and there's no competition or a lot of the things that we see here. And then young girls see, no, when I went to Take Your Child to Work Day, there were a lot of women involved, and there were men involved in the activities of the day, right? It wasn't just women caretaking the children in this activity. There's a lot of unspoken opportunities to create visibility and exposure for kids that isn't defined. You just witness it and you experience it, and it becomes the norm, you know?

SPEAKER_01 14:27

Yeah, no, and I agree with you. I think that's being able to see what actually happens throughout the day in a business is critical for taking your kid to work day, but that's not necessarily what's happening. And I think if you are gonna facilitate a take your kid to work day at your organization and you have a lot of children that are gonna be attending, yes, you can have fun activities, but you still need to give them the real-time, real life scenario of what's going on in the organization so that they can see what's possible or what they don't want to do.

SPEAKER_00 15:06

If if you don't give them that exposure, it makes other things difficult for kids to understand. I can share a moment with you where I have two actually with two of my children who have shared with me. My youngest, she's in high school now. When she was in elementary school, they had to go to aftercare because my husband and I were both working. Yeah, and I would get to them, my son would say, I was always one of the last ones there. And it's because the distance from where I worked to where I mean, I would roll in aftercare was done at six, and it was 5.58 that I was picking him up or six o'clock on the dot. And then my daughter had said to me at one moment, just once, I wish you would pick me up and not be on your phone so I could tell you about my day right away. I cried so much that night. I felt awful. I actually left that job and I took a step back in my career on purpose so that my kids wouldn't have that experience. I mean, it was it was that upsetting to me. But I think working remotely and then being able to see how much I'm working and what I'm doing created a different exposure for them too. Yeah. So I wonder how remote work has impacted what our kids see also, and going, oh, I have a different understanding of it. And I have a different understanding of what I want and what I don't want. I mean, my son's been very open with me about no offense, mom, but I don't want to do what you were doing back then. I don't want to have to take calls during dinner because I'm that high up in an organization that I can't sit and have dinner with my family. And I was like, this is a lesson in boundaries for my kids. And we talk about that a lot now and what's changed and for my daughter too, especially seeing different things, but they've also seen that I can be available to them. So I think work from home creates a different kind of take your child to work day experience that maybe we're not even considering.

SPEAKER_01 17:00

Yeah. And I mean, if you think about in the last six years, because of the pandemic, the remote work was so prevalent, where remote work was definitely something that was normal in town acquisition or recruiting and in our space. But when it expanded beyond just that and everybody was doing it, I wonder how the kids of today now look at what their parents do and how their parents operate. Because everybody experiences it differently. You and I both know working at a remote capacity, you start at 7 a.m. You don't finish till 10 p.m. Yes. And now we've changed our ways since then because the burnout is real and the stress and the anxiety that comes along with that is just it's unbearable and unmanageable, and nobody should be doing that. Now I may still work those hours, but my day's broken up differently. It's not where before I would sit down and work 15 hours in a row. Now it's more of a I work a couple hours, take a little bit of a break, work a couple hours, take a little of a bit of a break. So I have more balance in my day, if you will. I also can't look at my computers after like eight o'clock because my eyes are crossed and it's too much.

SPEAKER_00 18:17

I think it's cool though. Now, I mean, my kids are watching me go from corporate America to entrepreneurialism, and there's some overlap in the how many hours you put in when you're when you're running your own business and the things that you do. But I think I'm much more present than I could be working for someone else. Even as an entrepreneur, even working all the time, I'm able to be present when we are together or take a moment and say, like I will tell you, if my kids call me now, I pick up every single time. And that was a goal of mine. It's one of the reasons I went into entrepreneurialism, wanted to create my own business, was because I would be texting them, is everything okay? And you know, I'm in the middle of an important meeting, and now it's this is my business, these are my kids, and they come first, and not I don't care if they're 21 or 12. I'm picking up the phone, right? And that's something that you can do. And I think it's cool that they get to see that as well. They've seen both experiences. Yeah. I think organizations have a great opportunity with Take Your Child to Work Day to create a real scenario and to look, they'll get a lens into the future workforce. Yeah. And I think for kids, having an honest experience there would give them the kind of exposure that allows them to say, Well, what career am I going to pursue? Because I don't know about you. I was conditioned growing up. You go to high school, you go to college, you graduate, you get a job, you stay there for 40 years, and you're gonna retire with the gold watch and the pension and the, you know, everything. Right. And that's not true. For I'm an exen, I'm an excenial, is that what it is? We're in that like hybrid generation, but I'm in between Gen X and millennials. So I look at it and go, yeah, that's not my experience. And my kids are Gen Z. They definitely see it as not their experience. So now if you can really expose kids to what's out there from a trades perspective, from a corporate perspective, from an entrepreneurial perspective, I think you'll have a much more educated workforce. Absolutely following the path where they belong rather than a path they've been conditioned to think that they should go into. I don't think that's great for the government.

SPEAKER_01 20:34

Because no, no, but I agree. And I know we we talked about this before too, that there are a lot of kids these days that are creating their own businesses at such a young age and generating some sort of income or or something. I know there's um locally there it's a young boy and his mom, they make cookies and they sell them and then give the money back to veterans in need. And it's just it's such a cool thing, and he's made more money doing it than he ever thought. Um, there was another young woman that I saw on the news, and she was making sweaters and raising money to put clothing on animals somewhere where they needed it. Like it was adorable. And I just there's a lot. A girl that I used to play kickball with, her daughter makes bracelets and sells them. I think she's like 12. There's so many different things that kids are doing these days to try and just be themselves and generate, not even generate income, but it's mostly giving back to the community and doing something for somebody else. And I like what a better way to have your children start working, right? Than thinking about other people and all these kids with these big hearts doing different things.

SPEAKER_00 21:50

And even beyond actually doing things for other people, there's a level of transparency and authenticity that social media. Has brung it, it comes with a lot of negative too. But I've seen a lot of people. There was a little girl I would follow, her name was Zusa. She unfortunately passed away, but she was sharing her cancer journey as a young girl, as a preteen. And she was showing her experience in hospitals and other kids who are going through this. And I think when you are a kid going through that, to see someone else going through it too and talking about what you're experiencing is a way of giving back that maybe it wasn't through donations, but it was through visibility and camaraderie. And I was trying to think there was someone else. Oh, you know, there's that show on TLC now, Bailing Out Loud, which is she's a young adult living with Tourette's, and she creates visibility into Tourette's. Now, I happen to work with someone when I was at a very young age who also had Tourette's. He was a boss of mine. So I learned about it then and was aware. Yeah. But just to create this awareness and this acceptance, I think this new generation is so accepting. And part of it is because how they were raised by Gen X and millennial parents. And the other part is because of the exposure that they have to so much variety of people. And I think that's so important because these are the future leaders of our country. And I think they're going to naturally be more inclusive because of the access and visibility that they have to the diversity that the world has to offer in every way.

SPEAKER_01 23:25

I I think it's a double-edged sword, though, not to be Webby Downer or negative Nancy over here. But because they have so much exposure, they learn about so much that it also causes a lot of anxiety in their lives, too.

SPEAKER_00 23:37

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 23:37

And the children of today have so much more anxiety than I don't like yeah, once I got into high school, I had kind of anxiety, just thinking about what the future was gonna be. But I know growing up, I always wanted to be an adult. And I tell my niece all the time, like, just enjoy being a kid because before you know it, you're gonna have bills and things that you have to be responsible for. And responsibility sucks. Like being an adult is fun sometimes, but all the responsibility and adulting things that come along with it, they're not fun. You know, like having bills is not fun. So enjoy the moment that you're in and being a child. And I also think that children of today have a harder time being children because they're exposed to so much and they have so much information. And where you talk about parents working multiple jobs, the children see that and I feel like they take on their anxiety too, because they're exposed to it.

SPEAKER_00 24:33

And I feel like we've spent so many, so many years, and I look at our generation being conditioned to think that you have to follow the educational system and then go into this corporate world. And I really push my kids to say, if you end up there, that's okay. But if you don't want to, then don't chase that. Chase what you want and just make sure that you've got to be happy, you've got to pay your bills, you've got to take care of your response, you gotta work, you know. Right. Dreams don't pay the bills, but you can chase your dreams for sure and get there. And I think our kids, hopefully, we have parents who are teaching their kids that now to take risks. Yeah. But I also think because of what we just shared, what kids have witnessed going through the pandemic with work from home, with their parents, maybe sometimes going to take your child to work day, they're starting to shape their own view of what they want their future to be like and the control they have over it.

SPEAKER_01 25:35

Yeah. You know, I think they also are, even at earlier ages, are navigating what they want to do and understanding what it takes to get to where they want to go. And I'd say the acting piece, how many actors do you hear about they've all they all waited tables until they hit it big, right? That was something they did because it gave them the flexibility and the opportunity to go to all of the auditions that they wanted to go to, but then they could still make money.

SPEAKER_00 26:10

If you look at that, some people might look at that and go, Oh my god, you're waiting tables and you're almost 30. Or I just do you watch the show called The Pit? It's okay. My friend got me hooked on that. And well, one of the actors said he was working three jobs, he was doing like DoorDash is one of the jobs, you know, and he was like, This just isn't gonna work out. And then he landed this role on the pit and it has changed his life, and he's in his 30s, and it's you hear that story so many times from a lot of actors who make it big. And I think there's this commitment to I have a calling on my heart, whatever it is, and I'm going to follow it, even if it goes against the green of what society is telling me. I think it's important for kids to hear that that if the corporate machine is really attractive to you, go for it. There's no judgment there, right? If you want to work your way up through the corporate ladder and become a CEO for another company or a VP or something, go for it. But if you don't want to do that, go for it the other way. You don't have to. And I think this generation, at least from what I've seen, and I know that my kids are fortunate to go to, we moved to a school district where there were there was exposure to other opportunities. I mean, the high school they both went to has an ROTC program, a theater program, athletics, a vet program, an early childhood program. So these kids are graduating high school a little bit ahead of the curve to go into different industries with certifications and testing and things like that. But I think it's really important to have that kind of exposure early. Absolutely. And have choices and recognize that you have choices and that you don't have to just you don't have to do what your parents do and you don't have to fall in line.

SPEAKER_01 28:00

People are trying to do what makes them happy as opposed to being stuck in a job and in at 9 a.m., out at 5 p.m. every day doing the same thing over and over again.

SPEAKER_00 28:13

You have to experience a certain percentage of life to change that mentality because I have talked to people who've said, well, yeah, I hate what I'm doing, but it's a lucrative environment. And I I grew up really destitute and poor, and I never wanted that. And so I hate my job every day, but I'm living, I have a great lifestyle, and I'll never worry about food on my table, et cetera. And I understand that that motivation, but it does make me sad that they're unfulfilled in their job. And I know for me when I left corporate, one of the things I loved about talent acquisition was the people and just the I know this is gonna sound corny, but the beauty in connecting a whole person with motivations and dreams and responsibilities to a career in a company that not only aligned with them, but that could fund that life that they were looking to live, and that they could add value to as well. I mean, it was a beautiful matchmaking experience. And I think you really have to love people to see that. And the higher I got in organizations, the further I got from the core of what I loved, which was meeting and everybody, every single person you meet on this earth has a completely different lived experience and story. And it's just so cool if you take a minute and talk to them and see what's motivating them. And then for me, it was connecting them to a job. But I look at that now and I've seen so many interviews of people that say, Oh, well, we asked people, I think it was Simon Sinek who he said, you ask people, oh, well, what do you do? And it becomes their identity. You and I talked about that career being their identity, but the people don't ask, hey, are you happy? Right. How are you doing? Are you happy? And I was like, as a parent, which is really relative to this conversation, I think about that often. I want my kids to be happy because I think it took me loss and a long time to realize what the boundaries between work and life should be.

unknown 30:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:29

And I would hate that for my kids. And there's that cliche saying, if you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life. But we don't encourage kids to chase what they love to do.

SPEAKER_01 30:38

Yeah. Yeah. I know, like, and I mentioned this on another episode, but growing up, it was always like, where are you gonna make the most money? And still I get the questions like, where are you gonna make the most money? And so that's always kind of been at the forefront of whatever I do. I want to be able to make as much money as possible. Um, that's not my only goal because I also want to be happy and I want to thrive in whatever I do. I want to be successful. I'm not gonna go, I'm not gonna go pursue an accounting job. And so I want to be able to be successful and happy. And recruiting was really in town acquisition were kind of my calling, um unbeknownst to me. But then my mom went to school and was gonna be a nurse, and then she got married and had kids and was lucky enough and fortunate enough to be able to stay home with us. And then when I went into kindergarten, she started substitute teaching and realized that she really liked working with children. And uh even to add to that, she substitute taught in middle school for a special ed teacher for an extended period of time and then realized that was her calling. So she went back to school to get her master's in special education, but she worked K through fifth, not middle school. She didn't want to deal with all the hormones for the kids. I don't blame her. This is true.

SPEAKER_02 32:01

Oh my god, this is true.

SPEAKER_00 32:04

But yeah, I hope that kids today of all ages get a different type of exposure and set different boundaries because of it. And I think take your child to work day should be a little more honest than wouldn't it be cool for kids to go through what happens when you're hired, the onboarding process of completing W4s and your hiring paperwork and showing IDs and explaining why this has to happen, why this is important, and you pay taxes. I mean, we were just talking about that before we started recording. Like, why were we square dancing and not learning about taxes or basic life skills? Yeah. And so I think companies have an opportunity to show kids hey, we're gonna give you the fun name pad, the name badge and the welcoming committee because our new employees get that. But then we're gonna sit you down and we're gonna have you fill out this paperwork. We're gonna give you a fake identity, we're gonna have you do this and explain to you why you have to do this because we're gonna pay you. And oh, you need medical benefits because what if you have to go to the doctor, right? And you can make it engaging and fun, but it also creates visibility into the real life experience that kids are gonna have once they enter the workforce.

SPEAKER_01 33:18

Have them do some of those new higher video trainings too that you have to do like within your first week or 30 minutes.

SPEAKER_00 33:26

I mean, you could do that if you want to have a nap time instead of torture. I think as kids, you need to be exposed to different people, different environments, so that when you do get into the workforce, you realize not everybody has the same motivations or work ethic as you. Not everybody, you know, has the same communication style as you. As a parent, I'll tell you, and I know you have nieces and all too. I've had conversations with my kids, like nobody cares about your feelings out there. And you and I, I'm your mom. So if you want me to communicate with you differently or a different style works, I can do that for you, but I'm also not gonna pull any punches with you. You're gonna hear harsh truths from me because the world is full of harsh truths, and the people who are gonna give them to you don't care about your feelings. I happen to, so I'm going to share them with you, but with more care. And I think that's something else the kids need to be exposed to, too, is that communication of nobody cares work harder or right, right?

SPEAKER_01 34:27

Because there tends to be a perception that the new generation is very entitled. And there are some. Not gonna say that they're not, right? But to to pigeonhole everybody and stereotype, it's unfair. But there are some children who were raised with these entitled mentalities because their parents don't do them justice and let them have and do whatever they want, and then they become assholes, right? And they get into the workforce and they don't thrive and they don't succeed because they don't know how to interact with people, they don't know how to proactively communicate, right? Um, as you were saying, you know, you you think it's a really good idea for kids to go away from to go away to school and get that learning experience. I a hundred percent agree. I had when I got accepted to college, I could either go 45 minutes away from home or five hours. I was like, I'm gone five hours, see you, baby. Like the further the better. Because my brother only went 45 minutes away from home. And granted, he didn't come home a lot, but you know, I would say at least once a month, but it would be months before I would see my family, right? It wasn't just to get further away, but it was to gain my independence more than anything. And you know, I I made lifelong friends when I was at college, but I also learned a lot. And I had to be responsible. But, you know, like there's such a learning experience. And so I would say to the children out there, if you have an opportunity to move away from home, even if you're not going to college, but you have an opportunity to move away, take it, do it, gain your independence because it's such a good learning experience. And to your point, it exposes you to so many other types of personalities and people that you may not have interacted with growing up.

SPEAKER_00 36:12

Just made such a great point. And it made me think of when we were talking about social media earlier, right? That social media gives kids of today this different exposure. Yeah. But algorithms also force them into lanes of like-minded people, content, etc. And when you go away to college or you move away, you experience people in a different way in real life. Yeah, and you find people where you're like, wow, I really like this person, they're a good person. I would have never hung out with them ever, because and they have some views that I don't agree with, but I don't hate them for it. We have common ground, we have healthy debate, you know. And I I see that a lot with my kids in college. And then the the other piece I think you just jarred in my brain is um I've seen kids who've been pressured to be academically excellent, and then they don't know how to function beyond the academics, and they're so achievement-oriented that when life happens, and it does, it doesn't go your way. Look at all these people getting laid off right now after 40 years of service and all this stuff. They don't know how to adapt to that. And I've always been very big on telling my kids, you know, you've got to be well-rounded. So your grades need to be good. Your grades are your job right now. So don't bring me D's and F's. D's and F's are a lack of effort, you know? Right. Um, but if you're putting all of your best effort into a class and you have a C, I'm gonna talk to you about it. What do you do? If you have missing assignments, we have a problem. If all your grades are great, but your test grades are tough, that's a different conversation. And then I look, like I told you, I have one kid who's an athlete, one who's in theater constantly. There's and they volunteer, one volunteers all the time, and one is working all the time. They're so well-rounded, they have these other experiences where it's they're learning how to balance their lives. And I think that's a critical skill that we as parents have to instill in our kids that chasing academic excellence is good. There's there's nothing wrong with that, but make sure that they have the balance because as adults, they're not just going to go to work and perform. And even when they perform excellently, they're still probably gonna get a 3% raise and and nobody really patting them on the back. They're being congratulations, you did the job that you were hired for. There's no award ceremony for this. Right. And you have to have them be able to find satisfaction outside of the workplace and also find pride in, hey, I'm, you know, yeah, I'm killing it at work. That's great. But also I volunteer at this organization, I can see my impact. And I have my own apartment for the first time and my own furniture that I paid for, and it's going well, and you find fulfillment in the things that life has to offer and the responsibilities that you have. And I think that's critical for kids to see.

SPEAKER_01 39:15

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Because I know when I bought my first car on my own, like it was my car, you know, and prior to that I had had support, but majority purchase was mine. But just to be able to say, like, I did it all on my own. Yes. That's that's the sense of accomplishment that you get. And even I think honorable as you grab as you get older.

SPEAKER_00 39:39

Right. But I I also think even the most grateful kids, I think the kids who are really grateful for everything they have, when you buy something yourself with your own money that you worked for, you treat it differently. You just treat it differently. And I I think it's important for kids to to learn that. And so I know as we're wrapping up this episode for parents, I think what we've covered here today is be intentional about what you expose your kids to. Yep. Don't just show them your job, but show them your thinking, right? Yep. And then, as you were saying, I think excellently is probably one of the most important lessons for anybody to learn is teach your kids about boundaries. Yeah. And absolutely know about leadership and confidence. And then what would you say for the employers out there for professionals who are out there who might have influence over Take Your Child to Work Day or these types of programs, what would you recommend that they do?

SPEAKER_01 40:39

Yeah. I think it's fine to have some of those fun activities, but I would provide more exposure to what a day in the life of the job is so that they get a better understanding and not that it's just all fun and games.

SPEAKER_00 40:53

Yeah. And maybe a dose of healthy ambition. What does ambition in the world space look like? Yeah. So, okay, then for everyone as we wrap up today, please challenge what success is supposed to look like and make sure your kids see possibility, humanity, options, and not just the pressure of working together.

SPEAKER_01 41:16

Follow us on all your socials, NFNA Podcast.

SPEAKER_00 41:19

Until next time.