5 Things I Love About Taking my Daughter to Work

I am one of the few blessed individuals who are able to take their daughter to work with them everyday.  One of the reasons I decided not to be a stay-at-home mom was because I wanted to make sure I was still a teacher when my children were old enough to be in school so that I could see them everyday at work.  I know that may sound a little odd, but I thought 6 years of elementary school would be better than 5 years at home.  Now that I have a kindergartner who comes to work with me everyday, I'm  happy that I made that decision. I really love having Imma at school with me and here's why!
1. Expected but unexpected greetings. Every day at 9:30 I hear, "Hi Mommy!" yelled at me as she bounces down the hallway to resource.  I also hear it again at 10:00 when she bounces back down the hallway to class.  It's just a little reminder that she's here and that she's doing so extremely well.  She spends the majority of the day in regular kindergarten and just that short amount of time in resource class getting some extra help.  It gives me a few seconds worth of a break from being Mrs. Van Horn and let's me momentarily be Mommy.
2. I get to bring her lunch.  Imma wasn't eating the cafeteria food so she started bringing her lunch.  She really likes one of the Gerber Graduates, the one with mashed potatoes and chicken, so I heat that up for her and that's part of her lunch. Everyday.  As long as that's what she wants, I'm okay with that.  It's nice that I have my lunch at the same time so I can heat her lunch up and bring it down to her and help her open her yogurt and other items.  I can also occasionally eat lunch with her which is also very nice.
3. My 12:00 O'Clock lunchbox call.  Imma brings her lunchbox back to me just about everyday and it's always ceremonious.  She opens my door just far enough to swing it in and yells, "Here's your lunchbox, Mom!" before bounding back to class.  Again, just a sweet reminder that my little girl is here.
4. Before school I get to spend some time with her. When we get to school early enough, I have the opportunity to go over a few things--sight words, numbers, etc.--and help her get ready for her day.  It's nice to have her with me on the commute, too, even though it's only about 10 minutes.

5. End of day companionship. After school she keeps me company while I finish up all of the paperwork and other things I need to get done. It would be a lot more boring working on spreadsheets without my little girl behind me playing on the iPad and making silly noises.  She's my live entertainment!  It's also nice to have her with me on the way home.
There are some struggles that go along with having your child at work, too.  Sometimes it is hard to determine which hat I should be wearing.  Sometimes it is tricky when my colleagues are also her teachers though I cannot complain at all about any of her teachers. They are all phenomenal and I haven't had any issues at all with boundaries or anything like that.  But that's always a concern.  It's also difficult with I have to put data together and I see her name in places where I'd rather it wasn't but I understand that she has a disability and that's just an obstacle we have to overcome.  And, if she wasn't with me at work, I wouldn't be able to torture her by taking pictures of her at the end of the school day, against her will, like the one below!

Sneaky Mommy took her picture while she wasn't looking!