Bring Your Child To Work Day 2011

Today, April 28, marks Bring Your Daughters and Sons to Work Day. The noise level around the radio station will be a little higher (which I didn't think was possible). We adults will have to share our markers with others. And there will be lots and lots of laughter.

And while it may make your usually hectic work day a little more hectic, what with potty breaks, and a million questions, our friends at iVillage, say that there are four reasons that this day is rewarding for you and for your kids.

Here's what they have to say:

1. It gives us extra mid-week time with our kids.
True, one day a year does not make up for all those early morning meetings that required you to leave before they woke, or the times you had to stay late and bath time got skipped. But having one day when you can commute in with your mini me and purposefully work in a few more hours of quality time will do you both some serious good.

2. It helps you bond with colleagues who are parents.
Most of us only see each others' kids as pictures on our desks -- and those don’t get updated nearly enough! A once-a-year physical appearance by our spawn allows us to mark each other’s milestones as well. From new heights to haircuts and expanded vocabularies, we can amaze in how much happens in one year.

3. It reminds your colleagues why you sometimes may have to leave a little early.
Try as we may to never let our mom duties interfere with our employee duties, it is inevitable that once in a while we’ll have to rush out to deal with a crisis at home -- from disputes at school to unexpected childcare dilemmas. Seeing the living, breathing reasons for these occasional disruptions helps us all be a little more empathetic.

4. Because there is no better role model than you.
It’s not always easy for our children to understand what pulls us away from home on a daily basis. Getting a sense of what you do at work helps ease that separation -- just as visiting your kids’ classrooms helps you. It’s also incredibly powerful for your children to realize that they are not the only ones who depend on you. So dust of your superhero cape and enjoy showing off your mad skills for a day!