I first wrote about Take Your Child to Work Day in the Foreign Service back in 2013. I never would’ve imagined then that my child wouldn’t be able to participate for another 11 years…especially having joined the FS when he was nine months old.
Our first two posts, he was two young. Our third post didn’t have a program. When we were in London, the minimum age was seven. When we got to FSI, the minimum age was nine. The year that he turned nine…the pandemic hit, and the in-person program was cancelled for the next FOUR YEARS.
When I asked the organizers about it last year and found out they weren’t hosting anything, I basically gave up. So I was completely surprised when a co-worker asked me a few weeks ago if I was bringing my son this year. They were actually holding it again?? Great!! Clearly the advertising had been a bit low key…aka hidden at the bottom of a daily bureau newsletter that I barely read anymore. But I’m glad someone was paying attention!
Three other colleagues in my office brought their kids as well…a couple of which turned out to be A’s same age…so we all connected during the kids’ break, pulled a couple tables together in our downstairs café, and had a lovely family lunch together. And the kids had a great time!
Over 100 kiddos participated. They were grouped according to school age: elementary, middle, and high school, and started the day by being sworn in as honorary Foreign Service Officers. I haven’t seen the official details, but from A’s description, I believe it was the Director of the Foreign Service Institute who swore them in, which is awesome.
Then they spent the rest of the day roleplaying in the consular training windows, visiting the consular jail, broadcasting news in the Audio/Visual studio (complete with teleprompter, camera, and greenscreen), researching countries and writing their names in different languages, and admiring the bomb sniffing dog from Diplomatic Security.
I think it’s a very special program, and I’m so happy that A was finally able to participate. I was probably more excited about it than he was. But he made some new friends and got to meet some of the co-workers that I often talk about (and a few he’d met several years ago that commented on how much he’d grown!). Plus he got to get out of school for a day. So it was a win-win for him all around. 😊
In-Flight Movie - DC Edition 