Don’t Leave Your Job at the Office

It’s good to keep work at work whenever possible, especially when you have kids. But one thing you don’t want to eliminate is sharing with your children what work actually means to you.

“My tendency when I get home is to ask my kids about their day,” says Cheryl Hotchkiss, who runs an advocacy campaign on child and maternal health for families overseas with World Vision Canada. “But increasingly, my kids ask about my day. Talking about it is a chance to make myself human and accessible to them – and to show them that complex problems are solvable.”

It doesn’t matter what kind of work you do. You may serve food in a cafeteria, deliver flyers, or handle people’s tax returns. There’s always a lot you can teach your kids by talking about your job. Here are five things to consider sharing:

What you like about your job. Do this even if there’s not much to say. Finding the positives will open doors with your kids, and lift your spirits too.

How you see your job helping. Someone benefits because you go to work each day. Who is that person? How would their lives be different if you weren’t there?

What you learned today. It could be a new piece of information, or the trick to making a grumpy colleague smile.

Whom you met today. Perhaps it’s a quirky new client, or a new driver on your bus route. You’re giving your kids a window into a world they wouldn’t otherwise see.

How your journey is unfolding. Do you see this job leading to a different one, or are you hoping to keep learning where you are? It’s important for children to know you have dreams too.

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