Sarah Palin and bringing your baby to work
One of the many issues raised by the candidacy of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for vice president is the idea of caring for an infant while you're working in any kind of office. Palin's solution, as reported by several newspapers, has been to keep her baby, Trig, with her as much as possible, whether that's in the governor's office or while traveling to appearances, as in the picture on the left.
So I thought it might be interesting to talk about our own experiences bringing (or not) babies to work and to find out how many workplaces are truly baby-friendly.
A reader pointed me to the site Babies In the Workplace, which lists 104 companies around the country classified as "baby-friendly" and the number of "babies hosted" at each office to date.
I could find only one workplace listed there from Maryland -- the Law Offices of David Honick, P.A. (The Web site says that firm has hosted one baby so far.) I left a phone message there this morning to see if I could talk with the employees about babies at work. I'll report back if I hear from them.
Have you brought your babies to work, or worked alongside the babes of others? How did it go?
(Associated Press photo/Eric Risberg)
Baltimoresun.com's 
Comments
Our company worked with the Parenting in the Workplace Institute earlier this year to get our babies at work program up and running. They've been an invaluable resource.
It's been a great experience for us and very helpful for our participating parent. Not only is having a baby in the office a super morale-booster, it's one more way we can keep our team members who become parents.
To read about our program, visit http://hometownquotes.com/newsroom/babies-will-come-to-work-at-hometown-quotes.html
Posted by: Krista Farmer - HometownQuotes | September 12, 2008 11:29 AM
Does Sarah Palin allow the other workers in Alaska Government bring their babies and cribs to work? Or is she the only one with this option?
Posted by: Georgia Girl | September 12, 2008 1:19 PM
I understand the need for balance for working parents, but I hope that companies who "host" babies also keep in mind that not all employees want to be subjected to other people's children all day. In fact, I would imagine even some parents might view their time at work as a chance to have adult time and have some space from their kids, so not even all parents would applaud such an arrangement. The idea of an on-site daycare is acceptable but if the person in the office next to mine had a kid screaming and crying in their office all day, I'd complain until the program was eliminated or have to find a new job. Ultimately, people CHOOSE to have kids. It's their burden to find balance, not my burden as a happily child-free person to be negatively affected by their decision to reproduce.
Posted by: Lindsay Bowlin | September 12, 2008 2:45 PM
I have such bad karma with my kids at work (this post is a good example) that I don't want them anywhere near the place. On the other hand, it's healthy for kids to see where their parents work and it would be kind of nice if they could come "home" to my office after school instead them being with my mother-in-law or after care ... hmm. Tough call.
Posted by: Kate Dino | September 12, 2008 9:15 PM
I think it would be nice just to have better options. I don't think taking my daughter to work everyday would be optimal for me, but it would be nice occasionally. On-site daycare would be awesome, as would being able to work from home part of the time. I do not, for one second, think that anyone else should have to be burdened by my child, but I am a hard worker and an asset to my team, so it would be cool if options like these were available to me, perhaps as part of a benefits package.
Posted by: MomofBeans | September 15, 2008 8:38 AM
I have read reports that her older children also were frequently at the mayors' and governors' offices during the work day and that government personnel shared some of the oversight of the children.
Would Sarah Palin as vice-president or president carry her baby to official meetings and/or have him in the office on a daily basis? Is this something a man would do in the same situation? I don't think so.
In an office I managed several years ago, I did allow one of the women to bring her infant to work for one month when she returned from maternity leave at six weeks, but every other person in the office agreed to it and we did not visitors to the office. I know that it was a distraction for the mother and the rest of us who shared in the infant's care. It was pleasant most of the time, but I would not do it again. I don't think that children belong in the office of a mayor, governor, vice president, or president on a regular basis when they require the mother's (or staffers') care. Neither the job nor the child gets the full attention needed.
This is just one indication to me that Sarah Palin should have done more than blink (which she said she didn't do) when John McCain asked her to be his running mate.
Posted by: Rosemary | September 17, 2008 4:43 PM
I just learned this week that the boyfriend of Bristol Palin is a high school dropout. I guess education is not going to be one of Palin's core issues.
Posted by: Dahlink | September 18, 2008 6:10 AM
Hi MomOfBeans:
I agree. We wanted to provide more options for our employees who'd just become parents, but we also realized the program needs limits. When we set up the policy, we agreed parents could only bring the child until s/he is 8 months old or crawling. Also, you have to be a full-time employee for more then 90 days to be eligible.
It's not a program every company can offer, but it's definitely working for us.
Posted by: Krista Farmer - HometownQuotes | September 18, 2008 4:18 PM
I don't know about Sarah Palin, but I don't think I could get much work done with a screaming baby near me.
Posted by: Long Island Insurance | December 16, 2008 10:10 PM