As an
experiment, three Guardian staffers brought their
rugrats to the office and blogged about the experience. The result? Not much work got done. Zoe Williams, who
brought 6 month old Thurston (love those British names) to the Guardian
offices, points out that letting babies hang out at the workplace "irks
non-parents," acknowledges that "parents are annoying," and
quotes something called the Parenting in the Workplace institute, which is so
enthusiastic about parents bringing babies to work they sound like a group
funded by companies that don't want to pay for extended maternity leave (note:
I don't know if I'm right about that, that's just a guess.) Bottom line: none
of the three people in this particular group dug the experience, at least in
terms of productivity. Williams puts it best when she says that Thurston is,
"a nuisance. A lovely nuisance, but nevertheless..."
As
someone who brought Thing 1 to my place of business a few times when he was
very young, I can say that there is a way to get stuff done and also have the
kid there. One is the Baby Bjorn.
I developed a knack for answering email while Thing 1 napped away peacefully (I
have long arms). I could even take phone calls using a headset, which prompted a
colleague down the hall to joke, "The kid's first words are going to be
'can you hold, please?'" (For what it's worth, they weren't.)
Admittedly,
I was in a small office, and I was the boss, so everyone just had to deal. But
the fact is that no one minded; if anything, they seemed to enjoy it. Of
course, Thing 1 was THE GREATEST BABY EVER. But he still pooped, required
bottles of expressed milk (which I stored in the office fridge), and all that
good stuff. I didn't do it every day, just sometimes, when it was realistic.
But any loss in productivity was offset by the fact that I was able to spend
more time with my son and also give my wife a much-needed break while she was
on maternity leave.
One
idea that never seems to get enough attention is onsite daycare. There was an
episode of 'Desperate Housewives' where Lynette's employer adds a facility for
employees, and I think it worked out OK (although, if memory serves, she and
her husband are now running a pizza place, so maybe it was a nightmare. I don't
watch that show anymore.) Some companies will pay for offsite day care at a
facility such as Bright Horizons;
sometimes you can even visit your little one for lunch if you are so inclined. In
this case, I'm talking about Manhattan, which doesn't have affordable childcare;
your choices are a nanny, a pricey pre-school or an almost-as-pricey day care. The
little amount of telecommuting I've seen first-hand is basically paying people
to stay home with the kids, since very little work actually gets done. (Of
course, your experience may be different.)
Anyone
had any experience with kids at the office -- yours or other people's? And does
anyone's company offer onsite daycare?
image: guardian.co.uk
