Take Your Pickle to Work Day

Pickle was off from school today while her teachers prepped for parent conferences at the end of the week. The Land Baron worked at the hospital all day and I didn't want to use one of my precious few days off so, we packed up a bag full of distractions and off we went.

First stop- Baltimore Coffee & Tea- a lovely new coffee place across from the mall. They made a lukewarm hot chocolate for the Pepper - which is a brilliant idea because 1) she could drink it right away and it didn't need to be an exercise in delayed gratification and B) they don't get their asses sued when some child scalds themselves. Seems like a win-win to me.

So with warm beverages in hand we went to the office. Pickle has been excited for days. She couldn't wait to see what it was like at a real office where grown-ups do actual work.

If I was a betting woman, I would have given her 2-2.5 hours max before boredom set in and she'd start asking "Is it almost time to go yet" every 1.3 seconds. But she was a trooper. She played on the Internet and colored and cut things out and helped me open the mail and watched a DVD. She even helped me walk the bosses dog as an extra-special treat.

As a side note, I have to say that although I truly enjoy having the dog come to work on the rare occasions when my boss brings him in, I can't help thinking that the reason I went back to work in the first place was to clean up less poop during my day. But since I am often the only one in the office and everyone else (including my boss) is out working with clients, it's a worthwhile trade for the companionship and the chance to get a little fresh air in my mornings.

Pickle really only started bouncing off the walls about ten minutes before we left. She was ready for some running around time - as, aren't we all at the end of a work day.

Her favorite part of the day was when we both got our lunches out and sat at the conference table in my bosses office eating from our lunch bags and flipping through a magazine together as all good lunch buddies should.

But I think she was a touch disappointed that there was less excitement than she imagined. I don't know what she was expecting but I don't think it was the sight of her mother sitting at a computer, typing away--which is what I do at home most of the time anyway. I think she thought adults at work led interesting lives full of movement and energy and who knows what. Now she knows that I'm basically the same person both places.

Maybe I can convince her I'm an international spy and this is just my cover...