Sunday, April 29, 2012

Take Your Child To Work Day

This past Thursday was "Take Your Child To Work Day" at my job. Originally, way back when, it was developed as "Take Your Daughter To Work Day", but it got quickly established that reverse discrimination was being practiced, thus the change was made to make it all-inclusive.

Against my better judgment, I volunteered to help out with this particular version, and the first thing that was asked of me was if Jenelle could perform. I said, "I'm pretty sure she could do it."

And after discussing with my mother, wife and daughter (gotta remember, with my daughter's extracurricular activities, I'm just Mr. Open Wallet), I was able to say, "Yes." to the request.

So, I brought my daughter Jenelle in with me to spend the day with me, sort of. I say "sort of" because it was mostly activities sandwiched between three speakers, a tour and a special guest speaker.

After all was said and done, I discovered one very salient fact: I still don't like being around children between the ages of 7 & 13.

However, the day was not a complete waste of time. Like I said, Jenelle performed her latest dance competition routine:



For which she wound up receiving a basket containing a stuffed bear, a $10 gift card for I-Tunes, a small manicure set, a puzzle book, and a expandable string bag that she gave to a co-worker's young daughter.

And got her photo taken with local t.v. celebrity Scott Haney. I will say this about Scott Haney, he was a very gracious and very funny speaker. Within five minutes of appearance, which lasted about an hour, he said he would take questions about anything and everything that pertained to him.

Now, this is also included a few questions about his personal life, such as the fact that two days prior to his appearance, he broke up with his partner of 19 years, which if you can believe, was tackily announced on the Hartford Courant website. He graciously answered the children's questions about it, so to speak, then moved on.

Anyways, here is a solo photo of Jenelle with Scott and three group photos with our speakers of the day (Jenelle is on the far right in all three). Alas, I did not get the opportunity to get my photo taken with him.






And that, my friends, is the highlight of my week at work and at home.

16 comments:

  1. When I was in the workplace it was still "take your daughter to work" and my son definitely protested the discrimination (as did I on his behalf). Regardless I took my daughter a couple of times and she enjoyed it a great deal. Unlike you, I enjoyed all the other children that attended. Now I am curious about why your group of youngsters even bothered about a break-up between the celebrity and partner. I would not have thought they would have cared. Do you suppose the parents put them up to asking? How great that Janelle had a good time.

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  2. Granny Annie: I don't think the kids knew that he was gay, they were just asking a general question on whether he liked girls or had a girlfriend, so he was answering without answering.

    I would like to think that he was simply deferring to the parents on that particular point with his non-answer. Unlike most "progresive" people, I believe that children should approach their parents with question about the alternative lifestyle instead of someone simply introducing that lifestyle to the child without any warning.

    Jenelle definitely had a great time in going as she was the social butterfly at the gathering.

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  3. Your daughter danced great! She's definitely not shy, huh?

    I can remember a "bring your daughter to work day" when I was still at my corporate job, when my female boss brought her son and her boss made him take him home (or back to school, I guess.) I thought the big boss should have been nicer about that and let him stay. I think the original premise of BYDTWD was to build young girls' self esteem. I'm glad they have expanded it to be more inclusive now.

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  4. Lynn: Not by a long shot. She has always been the social butterfly for as long as I can remember.

    By the time I got around to participating in the take your child to work day, my son was already out of the age bracket (usually upper end is around 13), so it's always been my daughter that went.

    It's very tough to do it at my job since our environment is somewhat restrictive and there really isn't anything for the children to do.

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  5. Jenelle is so talented! She did such a great job -- especially in that small space... she's probably used to having more room to move around, but she made her little "stage" work just fine. You must be a really proud dad! :)

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  6. That is so cute! If I come with you to work, do I get a basket of goodies? :)

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  7. Lisa: Thanks.

    I am. However, this video is her swan song for solo dance competitions, as her current school doesn't really participate in that kind of thing. So even though she'll continue to dance, her competition days are over for the time being.

    M: Sure.

    So long as you can perform some kind of dance or routine. :D

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  8. Hey she's a great dancer, I could do with her at some of my gigs when I need to encourage people up on the floor!

    Love the photos too. :)

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  9. She's got that star thing going on!

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  10. Joe: Thanks.

    It's strange, but when she's at other types of mid-sized family functions, I can't get her on the dance floor.

    Mama Z: Thankee, thankee!

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  11. What a cutie pie she is! And an excellent dancer. You must be a very proud dad. :-)

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  12. S.R.: Thanks.

    Yes, I am very proud of her and her dancing ability.

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  13. Wow! Good job Janelle did to impress me with so many nifty n perfect moves!
    I have a childhood friend still teaching tap n jazz in San Diego CA- She also was a show stopper at a young age- Makes a good living at it now too-
    Hope she continues n has alot of fun too-

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  14. Snaggle: Thanks.

    She does plan on continuing to dance, but will drop the competition portion for a while. The school she goes to doesn't really participate in that type of thing and as such, she can't get the one-on-one coaching that's required to compete.

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  15. your little girl is lovely. What is it you don't like about the 7 to 13 age group? They were my favourite years when my kids were young

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  16. Nurse Myra: Thanks.

    I didn't really have a problem with my son going through that particular age bracket, but my daughter is going through it and it's becoming a bit of a headache.

    I would say that probably the main reason as to why I can't tolerate that age group has to do with spending a couple decades working retail.

    A lot of parents don't really control their kids nor give them the basic tools to behave themselves.

    Thus, it quickly became a constant battle in dealing with them on any kind of rational basis.

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