Little kid, big campus: reporting live from Take Your Child to Work Day

It was the start of just another work day for thousands of Googlers at our headquarters in Mountain View. But for the hundreds of fidgeting kids lined up on the sidewalk at the Googleplex, a special day was about to begin. The sun was shining, the Kidz Bop was bopping, the bubbles (not that kind) were flowing. This year’s Take Your Child to Work Day at Google had officially arrived.

Well, almost. As the minutes ticked by until the gates opened, I waited with Peri, our 6-year-old reporter (daughter of a Googler and aspiring YouTuber) who led the coverage of this year’s event. As she quietly looked down at her sneakers, perhaps she was asking herself—as many of us do on a Tuesday morning—what the day would bring.

Turns out the secret recipe to managing first-grade talent is part one-on-none soccer, part floss (the dance move, not dental … come on, Mom!), and part completely unscripted and unfettered access to a microphone. Hold the organic snacks. Who knew?

Minutes later we were off to the races. Building Legos, sticking our hands in water tanks, petting a four-foot alligator (wait, what?), diving in colorful ball pits (this *is* Google, after all) and of course learning just a little bit more about what Mom or Dad really does at work all day long. Guess those few hours away from school weren’t so bad after all.