Take My Child To Work Day

Christa hanging with me at a booksigning for Baby Changes Everything




I am still haunted by a conversation I had one day with my daughter, Christa:
Me: So, what does mom do?
Christa: You sit in front of your computer.
Me: No--what do I for work?
Christa: You sit in front of your computer a lot?

Somehow, Christa had never understood that her mom is a writer--despite the fact that I'm hugging her in my author photo on the back of Baby Changes Everything!

I also edit Connections, the leadership magazine for MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) International. Last night, as I edited a draft of the magazine, Christa walked into my office.

Here was my chance for my own version of Take Your Child to Work Day!

Christa stood by my desk while I showed her all the wonder and magic of being an editor. Somebody needed to be playing appropriate background music. The only sound I heard was my husband stifling his chuckles.

I showed her what an article looked like in it's rough, pre-edit phase. Then I explained how I put all the articles together and sent them to the graphic designer, Heather. She's the one who really got Christa's attention with her magic skills. Christa was amazed to see my basic black and white text turned into a full-color, photos-included draft of a magazine.

Then I showed Christa the fun of ADOBE ACROBAT and editing tools like highlighting, comment boxes! I won't say she was speechless, but she did pay attention.

All in all, our little at-home Take Your Child to Work Day lasted less than 10 minutes. I think Christa has a better understanding of what I do.

Of course, she immediately walked over to her dad, who was looking at a medical journal, and said, "Cool pictures, Dad! What is all that?"

Ah, well. Maybe her future lies in the medical field, not journalism.