My daughter (who is almost eleven years old) wants to be a special education school teacher when she grows up. I know that one of the main reasons is because her teacher (who she adores!) is studying to specialize in this field of education.
In talking with her, I realized that I remember being a kid and playing "school." BUT - thank goodness for TV (seriously)! TV shows like, "Police Woman" and "Charlie's Angels" were on and giving us little girls a vision of becoming something other than a housewife, school teacher or secretary. I can even remember a commercial for Avon that made me look forward to making my own money. When I was a little girl, working women (to me) were Super Cool! (Probably helped that my mom worked in an architectural firm.)
Thinking about current TV shows that my daughter watches, there aren't many - if any - glimpses into a work environment that look attractive. I've tried to show her that people are passionate about their careers by watching shows like, "The Zoe Project," "Project Runway," "Kell On Earth" (thank goodness they bleep the bad words). These shows have cool work environments with fun characters to watch, but of course with a TON of drama (of course, it IS TV we're watching).
So, this past Saturday night - I decided to give her a little bigger glimpse into a work environment. I knew the glimpse would have to be stylish, and fun-looking featuring someone that she could relate to: "The Devil Wears Prada." (Is it SO wrong that it's entirely made up?)
Lately, my daughter has been fascinated with the movie, "Momma Mia," starring Meryl Streep. She grew up watching, "The Princess Diaries," starring Anna Hathaway. So, I knew that she would be blown away by "TDWP." And she was. As soon as it was over, she asked if we could watch it again! (and I was THRILLED!!)
Thinking we were bonding over stylish offices and quirky leadership styles, I suggested that we watch the documentary, "The September Issue." I thought that as much as she was intrigued by the character Miranda from "The Devil Wears Prada," that she would adore learning about Anna Wintour and in inner workings of Vogue.
I was wrong. Within the first 10 minutes of watching the documentary, she labeled the movie "boring" and suddenly wanted to go ride bikes (which we did). BUT, I'm keeping my ears attentive to see if our movie time made any impression of a broader career objective. I am thankful for teachers and very appreciative that my kids gain so much from their time in school, but I think we need to ensure that kids today understand that there are more careers available to them.
In the meantime, is the "take your daughter to work day" thing totally over?
I know that my puppies always, I mean, ALWAYS want to go to work with me in the morning. They cry, they whine, they make, literally, like, puppy-dog eyes.
ReplyDeleteBut I don't take them. I hold firm in the but it's not "take your puppy to work day" today excuse.
I've tried to get to read Kafka's _The Trial_ as a reason to not want to go to work, but I don't think they've taken to it, yet.
You might laugh, but we've had a "take your puppy to work day." It was kinda fun, except that it was also "bring your small child (toddler really) to work day," which made THAT particular day quite spectacular. I would certainly suggest NOT combining the two.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment!