#LYNXCubs Blog – the parent perspective!

#LYNXCubs Blog – the parent perspective!

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Sarah Baker has worked at Lynx as a Senior Operations Manager for 7 months. In this blog she talks us through her, and her daughter Olive’s, day in the office for #LYNXCubs and why it is important to bridge the gap between work and home life.

Lynx cubs day was a blast. I decided to just take my eldest daughter and leave the youngest at home (the thought of being outnumbered and losing my cool in front of my new colleagues didn’t appeal to me). I first mentioned it to Olive a few months ago and she has asked me almost every day since if it was ‘time to go to Mummy’s work?’. It was important for me to take her. Not only have I spent a lot of her life on maternity leave, but I haven’t got a visually obvious job. The best explanation I have been able to offer a 5 year old is that ‘I organise people’. And I wanted my work pals to meet her too.

Olive was pretty nervous on the day but she enjoyed catching the train and witnessing my journey to work (thankfully Northern rail had a rare good day). We started the day spending some time at my desk where she got to meet a lot of my colleagues I often talk about at home. She spotted a hand painted cow she had made me on my desk which delighted her. At this point she also met her best chum for the day Elsie, also 5. They really hit it off and as Elsie had been before, she showed Olive the ropes and took excellent care of her in her wobblier moments.

The activities to choose from for Olive’s age were fantastic (bar the permanent markers) and Olive particularly enjoyed making a t-shirt for her little sister Peggy so she didn’t feel left out. In addition, having a life size drawing of herself made by Paul Bennett really made Olive smile and she is so excited to colour it in at home. Obviously she has not stopped talking about the gigantic ice cream she had too and I’ve just about recovered from the sugar rush.

We ended our day taking a jaunt into town with her new best buddy and having an adventure around Afflecks Palace, buying beads and getting a bit lost.

I love that Lynx do things like this. We spend a huge percentage of our lives at work so to be able to let our children have a better insight into our worlds and let our colleagues have a glimpse into our home life too adds some nice context. I really enjoyed getting to meet some new Havas folk too. It threw me into a nice random group where our only common denominator was having kids of a similar age and we got to see each other in a different light. A huge thank you to Rachel & the Ambassadors for organising such a memorable day.