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With all those people cheering him on, The Boy showed his stuff

Last Friday, my work had an "unwinder" - everyone gets together for drinks and snacks. The entertainment was the video game Rock Band.

I mentioned it in front of my son - I'd been recruited to sing in two bands. He begged me to pick him up from school and let him come to work. Early in the week, I said he could come if he was on his best behavior all week.

By Friday, he was an absolute angel. So I consented to picking him up from school an hour early and bringing him back to work with me. But I explained, "The Rock Band competition is for the adults who work here - you can watch, but you probably won't get to play."

I knew that it was more likely he would get to play, but I wanted to set his expectations properly: this was an adult thing, not for him. He was a spectator primarily.

Well, he was hanging out in my team's lounge, playing Rock Band guitar quietly, when some of my team members came over to practice. They were short their drummer, so they invited The Boy to drum.

When the song was over, they sent email to the drummer (who happens to be my boss's boss!) and said, "You're out of the band! We're replacing you with the kid!"

So The Boy got to play in that band - and then ANOTHER team recruited him.

When it was his band's turn to play, people were amazed - and cheered harder for them than for any other band. He had amazing performances with his two bands. When he was done, he could barely keep up with all the people who wanted to high-five him.

And then, another team of co-workers took the stage. Their drummer started his song, but was about to fail. He stood up, yelled, "I can't do this!" and shoved the drumsticks into The Boy's hands (he happened to be right behind him). The Boy quickly sat down at the drums and picked up the song - saving the whole band. I've never seen him so proud - or so many people in awe of him.

After the competition, he engaged in some free play with co-workers while I got a little more work done. He also ran around my building, finding the scooters, nerf guns, and other silly toys that often populate casual software development companies.

As we were leaving, he said, "Mom, I really wish I could work here, too!"

I smiled. "You know who gets to work here, buddy?" I asked. "People who do really well in school. So next time you don't want to do your homework, think about it this way: all of us here did, and that's why we get to work this super-fun job!"

(I also mentioned we don't get to play all the time; we actually have to do work, too.)

But he got the point: play is a reward for hard work. And Mommy has the coolest job in the world!