April 27 is the third "Take Your Daughter To Work" day. You may have heard the phrase "when life gives you a lemon, make lemonade." That is what my husband, Byron did with this "holiday."

Like many homeschooling families, I stay home with our children and Byron works outside the home. His job would be classified as a "desk job" at a corporate business office. Our children are girls, Meredith, age 15 and Alyssa, age 10. This year is the third year they will go to work with Dad. The first year I was not sure about the idea until I heard about the events that happened during their day. Then I decided that they could go the next year. Besides, this meant I had a teacher's "day off"--alone--in the middle of the week. That is a rare thing.

I imagine that one purpose of this "TYDTW" is to acquaint girls at a young age to the business work place of their parents. And so they are--6:00 a.m. is a little earlier than they are used to getting up, getting dressed and riding the vanpool to work. One day of "Dad's schedule" is enough to give a new appreciation for their home school--even for more traditional role of women.

The day with Dad is always full of various activities. His employer scheduled a tour of the building for them. Byron sometimes has jobs for them or meetings to take them to. They also get to "work" on his computer. The first year, he took them to his favorite sandwich shop in downtown Winston-Salem. Catching the trolley and walking to lunch was a new adventure.

The highlight of the day is always getting to talk to people. They met the daughters of Byron's co-workers. The girls have built a relationship with some of Byron's co-workers over the years so it was nice to meet their children. The girls had opportunities to talk to people about homeschooling, their family and even their faith. They exercised the principle "witness all the time and when necessary, use words."

In a particular instance, Byron's co-worker (who is a friend of Alyssa's) said something that offended Alyssa, so she told her. Alyssa did not say it in a disrespectful or condescending way. She merely said that this was not the best way to act and that it would be better for this person, in the long run, not to do this. The person acknowledged and thanked her for the advice.

You may already know the benefits of being at home and daily concentrating on godly character. Others can see it modeled through homeschooled kids in their workplace. Some view home education more positively because of having met my children (and that encourages me!) I pray that they think more about God and their relationship with Him.

Our daughters love their dad. To spend a whole day where he spends his whole day is special just because he is "Dad." I appreciate Byron's lighthearted approach that lets him salvage situations like this to bring good to our family and others.

Do you know if this day is recognized at your family member's place of employment? I personally do not think it fair that this day is celebrated for only daughters. Sons would probably like to have the same chance. I understand there are folks that are working toward this change. In the meantime, you might use this day to give Mom a day with her boy(s) while Dad has a day with his girl(s).

Matthew 5:14 says,