Bring Your Kid to Work Day

It's funny working in Boulder (aka East Berkley; aka The People's Republic of Boulder). Our office is very "pet friendly." And by that, I mean... "dogs walking the hallway" kind of friendly. There are a set of dog feeding bowls that live permanently in our kitchen at work. When folks get together for luncheons and the like, there's not much talk about kids but a lot of talk about dogs. I've been on project teams where folks have had to call in sick... because the dog was sick. Yeah. So, Bethany and I have always joked that "hey, if they're that friendly with dogs, why not with kids?" Today was the first official Bring Your Kid to Work Day.

It worked out pretty well. Bethany packed Emmaline a lunch (and me! woohoo!), I gathered up a couple of choice movies (Clifford and Charlotte's Web) and Bethany's laptop, and we trucked off to work in "Daddy's Green Car." The ride to work was event filled! We saw... fields of corn! And cows! And cars! And lots of "Daddy, why are we stopped?" and "are we almost there daddy?" At the office, I setup Emmaline next to me on my desk, got her hooked up to our network and she happily played at the PBS Kids website. (Emmaline has taken a real liking to that site - without any direction from us, she's figured out how to navigate the site and how to play most of the games - impressive!) She did have to go to one meeting with me, where she just colored on the white board. She loved it. Who wouldn't be happy with 8 markers that you can write on the wall with... and then erase it! SCORE!

Emmaline spent an hour or so on the PBS site, then it was time for some Charlotte's Web. But we had to have a snack (a pluot). And then came the big question: "Where are your bugs, daddy?" You see, I'm a programmer. But Emmaline doesn't really understand what that is, because when she sees me using the computer at home it's usually playing games or just dorking around. So, we've taught her that "daddy fixes computer bugs." Emmaline is always sure to point out that they aren't mean bugs "like ants, or spiders - those are mean bugs." I had to reexplain to Emmaline that the bugs are IN the computer, and that I have to type lots and lots to help make them better. She accepted that answer. For now. :-)

Then we had lunch (that mom made! woohoo!). Emmaline was very polite when coworkers would stop by. She'd tell her name, and what she was allergic to ('atta girl!), including boys. As the afternoon began, though, she wanted to get on to the REAL purpose of me bringing her to work: lab work at the hospital. It's time for her yearly checkup, and we needed to get in to have some blood drawn for her RAST and other tests.

She's always a trooper having her blood drawn. I think this was the first time she's actually shown fear. She very patiently sat down on my lap, and was very intent on watching what was going on. She really started to get a little panicky when they cleaned her arm with alcohol. They stuck the needle in and she didn't squirm, but did exclaim "Ow Ow Ow!" and whimpered a little bit. She really is a trooper. The tech didn't hit the vein when she put in the needle, but she was smart enough not to pull it back out but just jabbed around gently for the vein. And once Emmaline realized the pain was pretty much gone, she just chatted away about her day to the techs.

So, all in all a good day. Emmaline got to go to work with dad, and we got some blood to be tested for allergies. Hopefully that results in a change. We'll see.

Rating: 5 Payday Bars (because the payoff for being a dad comes every day)