This is a guest post from Niki Black. Niki is a busy attorney who also blogs a lot. In fact she has 4 active blogs which I know of; Sui Generis — a New York law blog, Practicing Law in the 21st Century blog, Legal Antics and Women Lawyers — Back on Track.
One of the joys of working from home is being able to spend more time with your kids. On occasion there are priceless moments that I know I would have never experienced if I my work were confined to an office.
Case in point-one morning last summer, my kids, ages 4 and 6, were getting ready for their day. They had camp that morning and I had a lot of work that had to be done.
After rushing around, we had a few minutes to kill, so my kids were watching tv while I drank my coffee and posted to one of my blogs.
I glanced into the family room and noticed that the kids were watching an infomercial for the “Shark Mop.” My suggestion that we change the channel to PBS was met with resounding dissent. I was a bit surprised by their fervor, but shrugged my shoulders and figured what harm could come of it?
A short while later, my 4 year old wandered into the kitchen and tugged at my sleeve.
“Mommy?”
“Yes honey.”
“Did you know that when you clean the floor you sometimes miss places?”
I was fairly meticulous about keeping the floor clean, so I figured that perhaps she’d stepped in dirt brought in by the dog.
I replied, “I try my best. Sorry if you stepped in something.”
She looked up at me and replied earnestly, “If you had a Shark Mop, that wouldn’t happen, mom.”
I laughed and sent her off to the family room.
When it was time to leave the house, I figured that before we left, we should have a short talk about commercials and infomercials. I explained that the program they had watched was really a commercial. I also told them that not everything you see and hear on tv is true.
My 6 year old furrowed her brows, looked at me petulantly and stomped her foot. “But mom! They tested the Shark Mop. It really works! It’s true!”
“I know they said that, but…”
“Mom! It’s true! It really, really is!” she replied adamantly.
I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. A sucker’s born every minute. Only problem—in this particular case, I couldn’t decide if it was my kids or me.
Niki, you are right about those precious moments and impressionable minds. I savor those spontaneous moments and unforgettable statements from my son’s mouth I know I would miss otherwise. Some have choices. I’m glad my choice was to have a home office.
Nikki-
This is an important illustration of the power of the media. And the suggestibility of kids.
When I was about 6 the American Cancer Society was running lots of Anti-smoking ads, talking about how cigarette smoke would make your lungs smaller, blacker, etc. ANd of course.. they ran these ads during kids programming.
My mom was a smoker… until the commercials got to me… when I started nagging at her, crying that she was going to die, etc…. she quit.
Power of media… sometimes put to good use… but as parents, we have a responsibility to make sure our kids understand that media messages are usually aimed at SELLING something, and not always a balanced presentation of truth.
My 6 year old daughter does the exact same thing. We’ve been working on developing her skepticism for these things, but it’s a lot of work. Kids so want to BELIEVE!
I’m not going to lie I googled Shark Mop. Don’t worry I didn’t buy it, just wanted to see if there was anything special about the appearance that would appeal to kids.
Fortunately, we grow up and become a lot wiser and smarter.
*surreptitiously nudges her Ab Flex and Ronco Food Dehydrator into the back of the closet*
