Babies in the Workplace

   Melanie Lastra went into detail on this phenomenon with the tellers at Schools who brought in their babies:

   One thing that I've seen and heard from
   moms; they've noticed that the babies are a
   lot more outgoing--it helps socialization.
   They get exposed to that kind of stimulation
   all the time, as opposed to a baby just home
   with mom who gets codependent with mom
   and won't let a stranger touch her. They get
   completely desensitized to new faces and
   new surroundings and they get more
   socialized. When they're here, they're right
   behind the [teller] line with moms, and a lot
   of times, a mom will have the baby in her
   lap. The members interact with the babies.
   They see them, ask about them, and talk to
   the babies. None of [the babies] are shy. It's
   amazing. They're used to people coming
   and going, and used to an active
   environment and seeing different people all
   the time. It may make them mature faster or
   make them sharper; they seem to be very
   outgoing as a result. "

   JaLynn Copp commented that her child

   can really relate to adults because she's
   around adults a lot--and bringing her to work
   was the beginning of that. When she went to
   daycare and saw other kids, she just sat
   there in fascination for days and just
   watched. I really think [bringing her to work]
   helped her grow into being a child that can
   relate to adults as well as children.

   Gay Gaddis said that she noticed a dramatic effect on the work babies at T3:

   Here's a little infant who is exposed to adult
   conversation every day. If you put them in
   day care or at home with the parent, they
   may be getting some, but I'm convinced that
   the fact that these kids are learning to feel
   comfortable with others besides their
   parents, and are listening to adult
   conversation, that they are picking up
   vocabulary and speech patterns faster.
   When they come back to visit, they all seem
   very mature for their age.