by Sue Langeder

Created on: February 22, 2009

I am a strong advocate for mixing work with motherhood as I spent the first 2 years of my babies' lives taking them to work, however I know, in most situations it isn't ideal.

Let me explain how my situation worked for taking my children to work. As a freelance copywriter for real estate, I would first call up the seller to make an appointment with them and ask if they minded if I brought my child to the appointment with me. I would carry them in a baby sling or baby backpack, so they were constantly attached to me, however I never stayed at a property for more than 20 minutes. I chose a career that allowed me to bring my children to work. I think this is the difference.

As both parents need to work to maintain the mortgage and the rising cost of living, it is completely inflexible for an employer to not allow a working parent to adapt their working life to parenthood. I am a strong believer of everyone has choices. If you want to be a parent, but you need to maintain an income, choose well before you have your children a career that can be done from home, or gives you the flexibility to have a balance of home and office life. If you're in retail, start your own Ebay business. If you are in administration or accounting, ask your employer if it is something that can be done from home a few days a week. If you're in an office of any sort, you can adapt your working life to work from home as a parent.

As my children turned to pre-schoolers, it became harder for me to take them to properties with me, as I couldn't carry them around with me. If I had to take them, they would always hold my hand and it was very hard for them not to touch anything. It was always a fairly rare occurrence that they attended a property with me through pre-schooler time. If they didn't hold my hand, they would sit in the home's living room and watch TV. The key is, they were never at a property longer than 20 minutes.

Once your children hit primary school age, they become more adaptable. If they have a day off from school and you can't get them to go to a friend's house or get vacation care for them, the only option may be to take them to work. If you're a bus driver, there wouldn't be a problem taking them to work - they would just be like another passenger. If you're a teacher, nurse, hotel worker or restaurant worker, your children can always be in the background, where the public doesn't see them and other staff can entertain them. The situation is never ideal, however employers need to be flexible for occasional circumstances.

I've found, that as my children have been to work with me from newborns, they have a healthier respect for other people's belongings and they have been more sociable, more level headed and have had very few tantrums. They have been socialized with the greater public and that gives them strength to be the person they want to be. Taking my children to work at an early age has not only good for me, the working mother, to be with my children, but also for the development of my children.

We need to advocate that family is the most important aspect in life - we work to keep food on the table and shelter over our family's heads, we get up every morning to ensure our family has someone to care for them. We need a support network that allows us to look after our children, and if that means taking them to work once in a while, then let it be.

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