There is no such thing as Official Bring Your Tween to Work Day, but maybe there should be. Tweens are at a crucial juncture in their journey to adulthood. Now that school is out and the kids are languishing in the summer doldrums, it is the perfect time to introduce them to one of the realities of adult life – working.
As much as your child looked forward to the freedom of summer, he or she is probably ready for something different by now.  The video games have been played and beaten, they’ve done the pool thing, and there is nothing but reruns on TV. Now is the time to seize upon your child’s natural curiosity and bring him or her along to the office.
You may be surprised at how your Tween reacts to an office environment. I brought my son last week. My lovely wife insisted he match the dress code, so he showed up in a crisply pressed dress shirt and a tie. Before my eyes he was transformed from a little boy into a paragon of employability. The ladies at the office made such a fuss over him that he blushed, but he loved every second of it. He eagerly embraced the opportunity to do some actual work and basked in the accomplishment of a job well done and the knowledge that he contributed something useful (as opposed to the typical school projects which are an end in themselves).
Not everyone can create their own Bring Your Tween to Work Day. If your job will not allow you to do so because of either natural constraints or management decry, then you may have to pass. But if your work is conducive to an unpaid shadow/assistant it will be well worth the effort. I recommend bringing your son or daughter for half a day rather than the full day. Your child will still have half a day to go to the pool/hang out with friends/play video games, and he or she will appreciate the time at the office more if it isn’t overwhelmingly long (remember that a normal work day is longer than a regular school day which is all a Tween has known until now).
If you can manage it, bring your Tween child to work with you at least once this summer. It will generate great openings for conversation about what you like and don’t like about your job and what your child may want to look for in a career someday – someday that isn’t as far off as it was when he or she was just a child in elementary school. Tweens are well on their way to adulthood so take this opportunity to give them a little preview and some guidance for the future.