Does Your Kid Know What You Do All Day?

Hey, just let me tell you, I KNOW Sarah's dad PERSONALLY, and hes WAY cooler than Ahhnold in True Lies or Batman. WAY cooler. I'd tell you more, but then I'd have to ... well, you know the rest.

Anonymous

Sent by Anonymous | 2:07 PM | 4-26-2007

Today's program topic is typical of TOTN and NPR. Where's the Wal-Mart overnight stocker talking about taking their child to work (which they can't do and would be put to work if they were)? So who did we have: the politician's lawyer son talking about how dad inspied him to go to the college the service worker could never afford. I'm disappointed TOTN didn't have a "Wealth Manager" on to promote ... well ... wealth management.

Sent by Frank Lucas | 3:22 PM | 4-26-2007

mY faTHER WAS A MEDIC IN THE ARMY. mY MOM WAS A CAREGIVER TO THE SICK IN OUR NEIGBORHOOD. mY BROTHER BECAME A no- HE NOW HAS phd AND i AM A FAMILY nURSE PRACTIONER. mY OLDEST SON IS A PARAMEDICA AND A DAUGHTER IS A SPEECH THERAPIST. wE LOVE CARING FOR PEOPLE

Sent by jO aNN HAHN | 3:27 PM | 4-26-2007

In middle school, my dad worked for the United Methodist Church and my mom worked for CompuServe. While it was always easy for me to visit my dad (something I always loved), I rarely saw what my mom did. One "take your child to work day" when I went to CompuServe. The company had programming all day to entertain, teach, and inspire the children there. One event that really touched me was a workshop on HTML. I loved it so much that I immediately started creating my own website. Though I lost steam after a while, I have a much better appreciation for computers and websites from that day. I was so impressed that her company was so welcoming to us. The qualities I have seen in my mom, her dedication to her work and her desire to succeed, stick with me even though I'm going into ordained ministry.

Sent by Jennifer Howard Burns | 3:38 PM | 4-26-2007

My dad is a car salesman and my mom is a nurse. My work couldn't be further removed from their professions. I'm a full-time "painting activist" using a blog, www.ashleycecil.com to market my work. A local paper recently did a story on my work. The reporter asked for my parents' contact info so that he could get their opinion of my work. I had to immediately call both my parents and re-explain what blogging was so they could quickly form and articulate an opinion! Obviously there is a bit of generation gap.

Sent by Ashley Cecil | 3:47 PM | 4-26-2007

I am a fireman Paramedic and until last week my kids 8 and 10 thought that I just put water on fire and put people in ambulances when they were in car wrecks. Last week my wife had the kids in the car and there was a real bad accident right in front of them. i was on the responding engine and my kids got to see what I really first hand which is hard in my profession. When i home the next morning they hug me and asked how they can be fireman too.

Sent by TOm | 3:55 PM | 4-26-2007

While struggling to choose a major in college my father recommended engineering as a great field for women. I was up to the challenge and decided on mechanical engineering; of course, I wasn't going to pick chemical engineering simply because that's what my dad did. Once in engineering I had a much better understanding and appreciation for what my dad did for a living. I felt I could speak his language. He opened up to me in a way he never had before; we would have long discussions about his job and the engineering challenges he faced. It was in those special moments that I realized I had reached a new period of my life -- from daughter to adult.

Sent by Toni | 4:15 PM | 4-26-2007

I hate to be the voice of cynicism here, but I think the discussion is ignoring that many, perhaps most adults, even in the U.S. are NOT satisfied by their work. I would be curious to learn accurate statistics to this effect.

Perhaps the main survival strategy of these folks is to not consider the issues you are raising on a daily basis. They may not wish this situation for their children, but will it ever change? The fact is not all children can choose their ideal occupation.

Many of our talents and passions are not commodities in our economy. I think of the many many artist for example who can not be professional artists from a pragmatic perspective.

I think this is one disservice of the career planning education I received in public schools, as well throughout college and graduate school, that you should not necessarily expect to love what you do for a living. I grew up in the 70's when the rhetoric that you can do anyting you want and if you just find what you love you will be happy was repeated over and over in school. This is a simplistic view.

Perhaps it is not a natural thing to hold a full time career in a complex society. Perhaps competition is not the most healthy trait to encourage. We should think back to times when families lived in cooperative groups and members divided tasks and took on many different roles to support each other. This option is not appealing to everyone, but it has become less and less available to us. The isolation and specialization of our current system does not enhance the strengths of all members of society.

Sent by Gina | 4:23 PM | 4-26-2007

Like more and more people these days, my father has had a couple careers, including Navy pilot, computer software sales, and now aircraft parts distribution. I learned from his choices that while it is good to choose a career that is challenging, at times you need to compromise to improve family life -- he left the Navy after 10 years to do just that. I've also learned from him that you can fulfill your passion through volunteer work. Dad is a born teacher, and he continues to work with the Boy Scouts, even though my brother is long out of the scouts.
From my mom, who stayed at home with us, I learned what it means to be involved in your children's education. She crusaded on numerous topics, perhaps to the exasperation of the school board, and succeeded on issues such increasing the number of foreign languages taught at my high school and keeping gifted education programs. Now that I am a parent, I find her example to be the best one I can think for being an advocate for my children.

Sent by Kate | 4:48 PM | 4-26-2007

Gina raises some interesting points, and I am truly saddened if, as is implied, she is not satisfied by her work. I think her suggestion that the career planning education offered - at least in the 70's and before - did a bit of a dis-service to us is on the money. We can do a better job for our children.

First and foremost is the relative nature of the word "satisfied." I believe Americans have evolved to - on average - expect/demand/desire more reward, both material and psychic, from their labor to qualify as "satisfied" today than was the case in the past. We are culturally and socially spoiled (by comparison to our forefathers). I'm not throwing rocks at anyone - I'm in this boat too. The best thing we can do for our children is to raise them to be predisposed to be "satisfied" - by being more realistic in their expectations, more appreciative of the good and rewarding things in (all) work, more tolerant of the less good things in (all) work, less demanding, and more confident in themselves so that when they really do find themselves in a personal dead end, they will have the courage to strike out for new horizons.

I think that the advice to look for something you love to do for a living is still good, but it needs to be tempered with the understanding that choices have consequences, both good and bad, and represent trade offs and compromises. If you want to be a professional artist, you can be a professional artist, but you're not likely to also be a millionaire. You might not even make enough to keep yourself well fed. How much do you value being an artist? These are trade-offs.

Sent by Thos | 5:10 PM | 4-26-2007

I grew up on a farm. My Dad was a upland crop farmer and had a feeder cattle operation. He was a very good farmer too. There aren't many awards for farmers, but my Dad and Mom earned one. In 1967 they were chosen Master Farmer and Master Homemaker by the Kansas Extension. They were one of five other couples chosen for the award. I remember how proud I was at the banquet honoring them at the Kansas State Fair. They worked hard and deserved it.

My older brother took over the farm and is also an excellent caretaker of the land. Even though my husband also grew up on a farm, he had an older brother to carry on that operation. So, we do not actively farm for a living.

As a young person it wasn't a matter of "going" to work with my parents. The work was right there and I spent a lot of time helping as do all farm kids. Often while riding in the truck to one field or another my dad and I would talk. It was during those conversations that I heard him say many times,

"You know, the job I would really like is to be a rural mail carrier."

I am now in my 28th year as a rural mail carrier.

Sent by Linda | 11:50 PM | 4-27-2007