I never knew that bringing a kid to work day was a national holiday until yesterday. Last year when my son was 2, I wanted to participate but our second child came a few days before. This year, I saw it on the calendar 2 weeks out, and knew I wanted to make sure we participated. As the date got closer, I let my son know he would be coming into work with me after school on Thursday. Like I always do for special events, I try to let him know a few days in advance and then remind him a few times a day after that. 

The wild thing I didn’t anticipate was the excitement built each day that came closer. His excitement passed to me as, especially as we headed out to drive to the office. My wife dressed him in a similar outfit to me and he was chatting it up about going to work with his dad. 

We got there and he had a blast. He was a little timid at times but found things he loved, which were cars, the view of the Charles River from the kitchen where we were watching the boats, and the snacks. I was also proud to hear him answer popular questions from people I work with such as, what is your name? and how old are you? 

This also brought back a few memories I had of joining my dad at work. Often using office supplies, admiring views, and meeting others. 

In today’s world where the youth population is dealing with a mix of mental health challenges, I find a day like this truly powerful. It gets kids out of their school routine into a different but real world experience that opens their eyes to career possibilities and allows them to meet new people.

I hope my family can participate in this national holiday for years to come.

Vacations are necessary for me, and I think most people. I took Thursday and Friday off last week and traveled to the Dominican Republic to celebrate a friend who is getting married in a few months. It was a fun time. Warm weather, sun, golf, good food, beach, pool, and most importantly many conversations and laughs with old friends. It is quite surreal spending time away from kids for a few days. It is great to get away from constant parenting once in a while but I also missed them. And when I got back they seemed like they grew up in 48 hours. 

Back to the point I want to make about returning from vacations. I’ve learned the importance of mindset on the first day back at work after a vacation. It is important to take the vacation and truly enjoy yourself during it. I used to take less vacation because I didn’t like coming back and feeling out of the loop and catching up. 

Rather than taking less vacation, I simply switch my mindset when I return. My mindset is to ease into the first day back. I do this by giving myself the morning to be meeting free. At least 830AM to 11AM or so. In that time I catch up on data, weekly planning, team priorities, and email/slack. I like to do this off a fresh night’s sleep. I find after spending 2 to 3 hours in these areas, I reap the recovery benefits of the vacation and I dive back into work with a mindset of excitement and control rather than letting calendar or other people’s priorities dictate my first half of the day which leads me feeling more stressed and bored than excited and engaged. 

Take the vacation, come back and be deliberate about your time for the first half of the day.

My neighbor published a children’s book, Birdie & Bodhi: Coastal Tails. Our dog, Tide, made it in the book and is friends with Bodhi, one of the main characters. 

I found the story my neighbor told about creating the book very inspiring. She got the idea for the book after her and her daughter got Birdie and Bodhi. She was watching them play often and thought a book would be fun to write. 

She then went out and made it happen by finding an illustrator and someone who can do the publishing and distributing of the book. 

Pretty cool and a lesson in if you have an idea and are passionate about it, find a way to make it happen. 

The book can be pre-ordered here.

I watched the first half of the Iowa vs UConn Women’s Final Four last night. I had to watch these highlights to know more about how the game ended. Worth a watch if you like tight basketball thrillers. I tuned in because a co-worker told me about the game and how good it was going to be. She was right.

I wanted to check out Caitlin Clark. I love watching how the best athletes approach their craft. She taught me two things watching her compete  in the first half and these highlights.

She was focused last night. She showed some frustration in the first half cause they were losing and she didn’t have a great start but through the whole game you could see it on her face and with the plays she was making. She was locked in. There’s a lot of value in bringing focus to your craft.

The second thing I learned is confidence through the highs and lows, especially when things aren’t going your way. She had a pretty rough first half. Something like 0/5 from three pointer or maybe she made one. Also a few turnovers. She could have lost confidence and stopped shooting the ball. She kept shooting. Eventually her shots dropped. She didn’t let the cold start rock her confidence. I love that.