Why it’s a good idea to talk about your work with your kids

Children do not need to be of working age to benefit from hearing about mum or dad’s job – it can even give them a head start.

It’s very important to talk about work with your children.

They need to understand you are working to put food on the table – it’s teaching them the value of money and how hard it is to earn that money.

It’s especially important to talk about work if you enjoy your work.

Often we don’t discuss these key things, but work is going to be a huge part of their life in the future.

Think about what you can be teaching your children now that they might not immediately understand but will remember in five to 10 years.

Explain your role. Show them what you do to prepare for a presentation. Show them your workplace.

Get them familiar with what work is about and give them a head start and show them how to respect the effort you put in.

Talking to children about your job can give them a head start. Picture: iStock

It’s good to be honest about what you do at work and how you feel about it – but within reason, depending on their age and confidentiality.

You can talk about a hard situation, but it’s important to also share how you dealt with it.

I think we shelter children too much from something they are going to spend seven to 10 hours a day doing when they are older.

Talking about salary is tricky as children do have a tendency of having loose lips at school.

You don’t want to offend other families with what you are earning or humiliate your family. Maybe you could ask your child to do some research – what do you think I should be getting paid?

But don’t share salary information just for the sake of it – there has got to be a lesson in it, such as about gender pay equality.

Amanda Rose says we shelter children from the realities of work too much. Picture: Monique Harmer

When your children get older, you could give them hypothetical situations from your work and ask them what they would do.

You could also organise for them to do work experience with your employer.

Introduce them to how to behave in the workplace.

If you don’t talk about work at all, they will be going in blind and will be one step behind.

They won’t know how to negotiate or handle situations and when they face difficulties, they might think they are alone.

Talking about work also helps show children what kinds of jobs are out there.

Amanda Rose is a business consultant, workplace trainer, LinkedIn influencer and founder of six organisations – and now she is tackling your career questions for SMART Daily every week.

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Originally published as Why it’s a good idea to talk about your work with your kids