Great Escape? Leaving Work to Go To A Kid's Game

Posted by: Lauren Young on September 26

This entry is written by BusinessWeek contributing editor Mark Hyman, who is the author of Until It Hurts (Beacon), a book about impact of parents, coaches and other adults on youth sports to be published in April 2009.

Complete this sentence: My most memorable escape from work to attend my kids’ sports game was ——-what?

As a journalist who works from a home-office, I don’t have the problem of having to account for every minute of my work day. And I don’t feel guilty about leaving my desk with the day’s work still piled high. (Not too guilty, anyway.)

My dad, Tony Hyman, also was self-employed, as a dentist in Freehold, New Jersey, a small town best known to the outside world as the birthplace of rocker Bruce Springsteen. The rhythm of his work day was different, though. And like no one I’ve met, he perfected the art of getting out of the office fast.

For most of the 1960s, he was coach of Little League teams that his sons played on. His dental office was on the lower level of our home, with patients entering by a private entrance. Late in the afternoon, on the day of a Little League game, we’d hear his footsteps on the stairs leading to the main level. He’d quickly change out of his dental smock, grab his Cardinals cap and windbreaker and charge through the front door with us boys trailing behind. We’d be at the field five minutes later, in time for infield practice.

Before my dad died in 2003, we chatted about this part of his life for a story about fathers, sons and baseball that aired on National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition.” It was an interview that I’ll never forget, and one that still makes me laugh out loud when I listen on the NPR Web site.

“I would see my patients until around 5 o’clock. Then I’d take a quick break and run upstairs and change into my spikes,” my dad says in the interview, laughing at the memory. “My last patient, I worked on with my spikes, making sure I hid my feet behind the [dental chair]. I couldn’t wait to get out on that field. I always loved baseball and I loved being with you guys.”

As a parent to my two sons, and as a youth sports coach, I’ve observed plenty of friends making that same transition from work life to youth sports life at break-neck speed. It can be nerve-wracking and blood-pressure elevating. But it must be worth it, because we keep doing it…

What’s your best story about leaving work, cutting short a business trip, or another change in plans so that you can attend the big game?

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