Bringing your children to work Cancel The title field is required!

1. Jennifer Torres

   

   2 posts
   
   1/21/2013 7:01 AM

   I want to instill in my children the value of hard work and the knowledge of what I actually do at the golf course. I have been an Assistant since 2006 and have brought my children to the course with me often on weekends. My youngest will be 13 in March. He helps change cups, push mow around the clubhouse, and has walk mowed greens under my supervision. Members have said they like the idea. My kids are learning something many kids today don't. What are your feelings on this practice?

   
   
   
   
2. Canedo Alberto J

   
   1/21/2013 7:01 AM

   As a 2nd generation Superintendent, I was raised watching and going to work with my dad on weekends. I would drive around the golf course with one of the workers and once in a while be allowed to change cups. My dad never allowed us to operate any equipment until we started to work for him during the summer I turned 15 years old and was able to work legally. If something happened while working, we would be covered by insurance. Equipment is very dangerous and one does not know what could happen. Seen to many injuries in my 25 years. Keep taking your kids to the golf course, but just be careful on what they do. I am a 3rd generation golf course worker.

   
   
   
   
3. Jennifer Torres

   

   2 posts
   
   1/21/2013 8:01 AM

   Alberto,
   Thanks for your reply. I value your input. I grew up on a farm in upstate NY and was subjected to many aspects of that life from a very young age. I guess that is why I have allowed, under my supervision, my children to operate equipment. You are right about the liability though. It is dangerous, and I have instilled that in my kids as well. My father was strict with us as kids. Hard to teach your children in today's world the value of a days work. By the time they are teens it's to late!

   
   
   
   
4. Hardy Andrew

   
   1/21/2013 8:01 AM

   My three boys are very much a part of my job and are with me at least one day (Saturday evenings) a week in the height of the season. My two older boys are diagnosed with Autism and its turned out to be a part of the routine and great therapy. In fact, they will hold a hose in summer while I turn the coupler on. My employer did the same with his two kids and will even take my youngest with him for hours on end. As parents if we can include our children in our lives and erase the stigma of Superintendents not seeing their family at busy times then its winning for everyone. Family first.

   
   
   
   
5. Jennifer Torres

   

   2 posts
   
   1/21/2013 8:01 AM

   Andrew,
   I so wish all courses felt the way you do. I love the job I have and my children love to come out and enjoy it with me. I wish at times they would give me a waiver to sign, that I would not hold the course liable if God forbid something bad did happen. I too believe in family first, as a mother of three, and grandmother too, it is important to be a part of your children's lives. I work at small public courses for that point. Glad you can spend the time with your boys!

   
   
   
   
6. Andy Scott

   

   0 posts
   
   1/21/2013 3:01 PM

   I bring my 9 yr old with me almost every Sat morning. He loves to wake up early and can be ready to go in 10 min. He rakes bunkers, picks up trash, helps change cups, runs a backpack blower and most importantly we sit and enjoy breakfast together in the club after the morning set-up. He has even written about my job on school assignments. My employer is also on board.

   
   
   
   
7. Ronald Kirkman

   

   40 posts
   
   1/21/2013 8:01 PM

   My dad sent along a post to me written by Jennifer Torres.
   
   I emailed my dad and asked him to post the following on your forum.
   
   When I was little - even as young as three - Big Ron took me on the golf course. My favorite memories are riding in the "Go - Buggy" at night. I still don't know the real name for that thing.... the smell of wet grass, fresh cut grass, the feeling that I had this BIG BACK YARD or at least access to one that no other kids did. I liked seeing that not every job involved working 9 to 5 and going in an office. Watching my dad work on a golf course gave me a sense that was different than maybe if I had been taken to a standard "corporate" environment.
   
   I got the sense that your life can be work and work can be life in a very easily interwoven way. It seemed like work wasn't a "chore" or something my dad "had" to do - if you asked me back then I probably would have just told you that for some reason my dad hops in this cart and changes cups and tee markers, replaces divots, secures the course, takes the flags out of the pole and rests them on the green, re-rakes the sand traps, refills the soda machines at the golf club, locks up, etc. because he wants to.
   
   And it's never a bad thing to get to spend some time outside in the fresh air at night instead of watching TV. From my dad taking me on the course, it gave me an understanding that there is a lot of intuition and science involved with the art of being a superintendent - there's a lot to manage at once. To this day I get angry when I see home owners automatic sprinklers turn on on their front lawns at noon. Grass should be watered before sunrise so that the water doesn't evaporate before it soaks the root!!!" I think to myself.
   
   And I think that the members always like seeing kids taking an interest in golf and it helps superintendent member relationships, no? The golf course members may not yell at the superintendent that his/her slow greens are ruining their game if the superintendent's kid is standing there.
   
   AND being the child of a superintendent just makes the movie Caddyshack THAT much more special.
   
   Jen Kirkman
   Hollywood, CA
   
   Daughter of Ron Kirkman, superintendent at Needham Golf Club, Needham, MA since 1961 - retired now.

   
   
   
   
8. Jennifer Torres

   

   2 posts
   
   1/22/2013 6:01 AM

   Jen,
   This was so touching, as I know how much a father daughter relationship is. I lost my dad in 1999, and as you may have guessed I was a daddy's girl. He is the main reason I have taken this path. Not the traditional job of women. I love the outdoors and would go crazy working in Corporate America. I am grateful to have a job were I can see the morning sunrise, smell the grass, and feel like I do make a difference in the world.
   
   The point you made about getting up and ready to go in ten minutes is so much like my son. He loves coming to work with me. He has even said he would like to pursue the same path as he gets older. The time we share is so very important, and they grow up much too fast.
   
   Thanks for your post!

   
   
   
   
9. Robert Searle

   

   0 posts
   
   1/22/2013 7:01 AM

   I too am a second generation superintendent. There are some things we never forget in life and for me one of them is going to work with dad as a youngster. I learned to drive a standard on a cushman, how to intereact with people, be a good manager, how to seperate work and home life, the value in being active in the local association, and a whole lot more. I thought the coolest thing was going in at night to water. Now I don't think thats cool at all!

   
   
   
   
10. Wahlin Scott B

    
    1/22/2013 7:01 AM

    I have a friend who can say that every meal he has ever eaten was paid for by golf course maintenance. I expected my kids to take to golf course maintenance. I sure did, but my kids did not. One decided killing Taliban was preferable, one works at a car dealership up-selling, one spends his days in the tree tops and one cleans the plaque off of teeth all day. I'll stick to what I do!

    
    
    
    
11. Sean Hoolehan

    

    0 posts
    
    1/22/2013 10:01 AM

    Jennifer,
    
    Great subject.
    
    I brought my kids to the golf course when they were young (3-14), it seems like after 14 they are not as eager to be woken up at 4:15 AM on a weekend morning. It's funny that they think of my job as changing holes, hand watering, and maybe some other routine maintenance. They never really experienced my weekday workday. Today my kids are 25-23-17-15, and they are all so different from each other despite having a common upbringing. I'm very proud of all of them. I think if you asked my 2 oldest what was great about going to work with me they would say spending time with me. (I would not bother to ask a teenager this question but that is a whole other story.) As a parent the best way to teach your children is through example. How they see you live your life and how you treat others will have more influence then the things you make them do for their own good (but you still have to make them). That's the real value in bringing them to work with you, they get to see you in a different light. Parenting is our most important job…. Sometimes we get caught up in our careers and let the importance of the job's salary and its influence on our ability to provide for our family justify our neglect of direct parenting.
    
    As to the employers liability I asked our insurance broker directly and his opinion was, as the parent with full custody my kids were my responsibility not the courses. As a employer I also recognize that I could not have my employees bring their children to work regularly. How does the guy who mows fairways watch his child while he mows? I do let them bring their children or grandchildren when they ask in advance for a special day, and we make it like the kid is part of the crew, put them to work with the team, generally on a payday Friday which is generally a short day anyway.

    
    
    
    
12. Jennifer Torres

    

    2 posts
    
    1/22/2013 1:01 PM

    Sean,
    I am finding more people than I thought bring their children with them to experience what we really do! The comment about you 14 year old made me laugh, my middle daughter used to love to come in with me, but now at 14 she too has changed and hates to wake up. My son on the other hand still enjoys coming in with me.
    
    How would you go about changing the mindset of your course if they said they did not want you to bring your kids with you? My son was heartbroken when I told him I was asked not to bring him with me. I understand their thinking as far as safety, but I am his parent and SHOULD be responsible for him. I am training my next crew!!

    
    
    
    
13. Sean Hoolehan

    

    0 posts
    
    1/23/2013 1:01 PM

    Jennifer,
    
    Bringing your kids to work is not something to take a stand on. This is one of those times to take the company's side and just move on. Yes it is disappointing, but having kids at work is a [u">exceptional[/u"> accommodation for a employer to allow. Even though I enjoyed the ability to do it I also see the liability of allowing it. It can easily become a slippery slope.
    
    Sean

    
    
    
    
14. James Schmid

    

    1 posts
    
    1/23/2013 1:01 PM

    I think it would be easy for your employer to make the argument that if you are spending enough time supervising your children to ensure their safety, that you are probably not able to focus the attention that you need to on your other supervisory responsibilities. I agree that it would be nice to be able to have my kids at work with me once in a while, but would never attempt to push the issue. I'm here to do my job, and I can honestly say with certainty that babysitting would most definitely reduce my ability to be effective in my responsibilities.

    
    
    
    
15. Jennifer Torres

    

    2 posts
    
    1/23/2013 2:01 PM

    Thanks everyone for your incite, I love my job, as I know you do, or you would not choice to get up at the hours we do. I was never going to push the issue. I just wanted to know if others had been through it. I fully understand how some might see it as babysitting and taking away from my job, but believe me if I ever thought that was an issue I would never have brought them with me. The main issue is liability.

    
    
    
    
16. Keith Lamb

    

    3 posts
    
    1/23/2013 4:01 PM

    Anybody have a kid I can borrow, sounds like fun.
    
    Scott, you free?

    
    
    
    
17. David Brandenburg

    

    3 posts
    
    1/23/2013 5:01 PM

    Mine are all grown up now but I enjoyed bringing them in on evenings to help make rounds, catch a couple fish and often help change cups, tee markers and check sprinkler heads. We changed cups the most and they were having fun with dad on the course.
    
    I did not bring them during the normal weekday / workday. That would be disruptive to the staff and my work.

    
    
    
    
18. Jeffrey Sexton

    

    0 posts
    
    1/23/2013 6:01 PM

    I have three kids. 7,5,2 and I take them to work with me almost every evening to ride in dad's cart. They love helping me move sprinklers in the rough and using a flag key to turn on a fairway head. I let my older two take turns driving the cart. Great time to get them away from my wife and for all of us to bond. My members love seeing them out there with me. My kids also get to see wildlife that other kids their age might not get to see.
    
    
    Jeff Sexton
    Evansville CC

    
    
    
    
19. Melvin Waldron

    

    43 posts
    
    1/23/2013 7:01 PM

    I have taken my son to work when I really haven't been working. Checking on the pump station, or checking on irrigation or turning on irrigation when the computer is down. I don't know if letting him drive a cart was much help now that he is learning to drive a car, my hair keeps getting grayer by the day. He has got to see the wildlife, my favorite story is from when he was getting ready to start kindergarten, we took a ride on the course, I told him to look at those baby geese, he told me they were gosselins. Never took him in the morning as I had work to do as part of the crew. In NJ when he was just home from the hospital that first summer my wife had a little sling he would ride in as we would ride around the course late in the day. Of course we lived there at the time. They would come downstairs once in a while and have lunch in the snack bar or would visit with our cashiers when I would be doing our daily reports. I will say back in the early 70's mom worked in the snack bar and dad worked in the pro shop, they took me to work in the summer, I hit golf balls, putted, played some golf, and would help with carts and pick the range. But that was back in the old days.
    
    I do like Sean's idea to occasionally let a child come in and be part of the crew for the day. I guess a lot depends on your situation and the clubs.
    
    Mel

    
    Melvin H. Waldron III, CGCS, Horton Smith Golf Course, City of Springfield/Greene County MO
    
    
20. Timothy Walker

    

    0 posts
    
    2/18/2013 6:02 PM

    Always a good time