"Your Mommy is a WHAT?!"

Okay, so the flyer came home from Jack's preschool about the upcoming "Occupation Weeks" at the school. All parents were encouraged to volunteer to speak to the class about their different careers. There would be two weeks, or ten parent speakers visiting. Since I work part-time, I agreed to do it. After all, how hard could it be, there are only ten to fifteen 3-yr-olds in his little class, right?

So, as Career Week drew near, I decided I would talk for a little bit about different jobs people have, and then I would give out little stuffed dolls from Monster.com. Easy peezy.

They would love the dolls. So, I call the school to make sure to order enough monsters, and the director informs me that I will be speaking to two groups of about SIXTY KIDS! I was like, "What!?" She fills me in on the details: I will be giving a FIFTEEN- to TWENTY-minute presentation to ALL CLASSES in the school, and parents are invited to attend. The kids would range from two years to five years old. As I hung up, I started to panic a little. I thought it was just going to be Jack's little class, sitting in a circle for a few minutes... now it was kind of turning into a big deal - with other parents invited to attend - AND all the teachers from the classes looking at me.

So, suddenly, the stuffed monsters are out of the question - I can't ask for 120 free monsters. Plus, how do you really explain Corporate Recruiting to 2 yr-olds? They don't know what a JOB is. They don't know what GRADES are, or about staying in school.

I explained this new assignment in the next Recruiting meeting and asked my Human Resources colleagues for some ideas. They were oh-so-helpful. Their ideas included starting the presentation with, "Kids, are you tired of eating bologna every night? Does your Mommy keep saying it's time for your Daddy to get a real job?" They added comments like, "I bet the other parents have awesome jobs, like a fireman. He'll probably bring his awesome fire truck. You can show them your '99 Honda. Kids, you can be a recruiter and drive one of these!" Needless to say, they were no help whatsoever.

So, I called the Preschool Director back and asked her NOT to put me next to the awesome parents, like the candymaker or the juggler. She laughed. The schedule was like this: Firefighter, Worship Leader, Construction Worker, Dance Instructor, Nurse, Police man, Military soldier, Recruiter... I thought, "Poor Jack, his mommy has the boring job."

Well, in true Melissa fashion, I did not have a real idea about how to teach an abstract concept like helping people find the right job until two nights before I was scheduled to present. I did what I always do when I hit a creative block - called my neighbor Sarah. She convinced me to just tell the kids a story. She helped me with an outline for my story, and Jeff and I stayed up until the wee hours coloring posters for the next two nights. The rest is history.

Here is a slideshow from Career Day 2007: Corporate Recruiter.

When I came out of my room in my suit that morning, Jack said, "Momma, is that your work costume?"

Afterwards, I asked the kids, "So what do YOU want to be when YOU grow up?" One boy said, "Spiderman!," but one little girl said, "I want to be a Recruiter." I almost got teary-eyed.

I knew right then it was all worth it.