National Take Your Son/Daughter to Work Day

(Every fourth Thursday in April)

Going to work with Daddy was no small thing. Excitement levels were running in dangerous proportions a day in advance which is when he packed his 'work bag.'  He had several hours of coloring, his favorite Flight magazine to look at, and a multi-colored ink pad to make fingerprint pictures for Mommy.  

On Thursday morning he came downstairs in a new-to-him shirt with as many buttons as Daddy's.  He had tucked it in carefully and critiqued the combing job I gave to his hair.   He asked for cologne.  And then he was ready and felt like a million bucks.   

I loved it.  

While waiting to leave, he perched carefully on the edge of the recliner in order not to mess up his hair.  I sat across from him and smiled.  This was a big day for all of us.

In his best effort to sound as grown-up as possible, he struck up a conversation, "So, how was your time with dad in the dark?"  

I stifled the great belly laugh that welled up in me, straightened my face to an appropriate sobriety and said, "It was great!  I slept well and then came downstairs to read my Bible and pray.  I prayed that you would have a really good time with Daddy at work today."

That was all it took.  He flung his head back, all grown-up facades cast away, and laughed with the abandon of a five-year-old who is sitting on extreme but suppressed excitement.  Then he sobered up again and nodded politely and said, "That's good."

And then John came down.  Tyler had waited to eat until Daddy did.  He zipped his jacket only partially like Daddy had his.  He smiled, satisfied that his button-down shirt and tan trousers looked man-enough to be appropriate for an office.  

When I kissed both of my guys good-bye I wasn't sure which one of them was enjoying this the most:  the shiny-eyed one with his bag or the smiling-eyed one with his boy.  And then they left.

An hour into their day at the office, I sent John a text asking how it was going.  His reply was to send this picture:  

We only live a few minutes from the office, so I told John that I could easily pick Tyler up any time things go downhill.  But what grown-up five-year-old wants to have his mom pick him up from the office?  That is like, so schoolboy-ish.  John understood that.  So mid-morning when his coloring and artwork were done and his scrap paper properly disposed of by the paper shredder, Tyler grew restless and John, still grinning broadly, brought him home. 

Tyler had a brown paper bag in his hand.  "Hey, what it is in your bag?" I asked.

And then came the heart-warming story of how George, the CEO, called Tyler into his office.  "He asked if I could step into his office for a minute, so I stepped into his office and he said 'Thank you for coming to work with your dad.'  He gave me this bag and then he told me 'Thank you for coming with your dad' the second time."

Tyler emptied his treasures onto the table.  There were business cards, a logo-embellished, leather-bound tablet with a calculator inside the cover (this doubles beautifully as an iPhone when you are five), a pen with a matching key chain/flashlight, a pack of gum, a bookmark, and a card thanking him for coming to work with his dad.  

I could have cried.  Going to work with John would have been fantastic without the bag from George, but that element changed Tyler's experience from fantastic to Never Ever Will Be Forgotten.  

John was grinning. "On the way to work Tyler told me 'Dad, this is melting my heart.'"  

Yeah, it melts mine, too. 

I say three cheers for the National Holiday People for hitting on a great idea.  And three cheers for Dads like John and workplaces like Westfield and executives like George.  And, of course, three cheers for five-year-old boys with their shiny eyes and bags of treasures.

The combination is unbeatable on the fourth Thursday in April.  You might want to mark your calendar for next year.