Taking Children To Work: Expect the Unexpected

When my daughter was a child, I didn't always have a babysitter on weekends. Since real estate agents work on weekends, I had to either turn down business or take her with me to show houses. Naturally, I scooped her up and took her along.

To make it more enjoyable for her, I scanned her first grade picture and made her a little business card. Her title was "Unlicensed Assistant." She loved to put her card down next to mine when we viewed a house. For the most part, she was quiet and good. She never whined or annoyed my clients.

But one day, something happened that made me find a weekend babysitter real fast!

We were touring a two-level townhouse. There was a closet under the stairwell in the place where the basement stairs would have been had there been a basement in the house.

My client opened the door to the stairwell and comment, "Oh, no basement."

My daughter, trying to be helpful and involved, piped up "No basement! How can they live without a basement!"

Although everyone laughed, she never went along with me again. And, of course, the buyer didn't make an offer on that house.