Work Trips Double As Family Outings

Pat McGunn was on the business trip of her life when she was stood up not by a client but by the hotel baby sitter. Suddenly, her room seemed uncomfortably warm. Ten floors below, an auditorium full of fast-food franchise owners was impatiently waiting for a presentation by McGunn, chief executive officer of a safe company.

“What could I do?” asked McGunn, who had her two children, Ryan, 4, and Caitlin, 6, in tow. “I put Caitlin to work handing out brochures, and Ryan demonstrated how the door opens. Actually, I think they helped clinch a couple of sales.”

With four children under 11 and a job that requires spending half her time on the road, McGunn has found that the only way to have it all is to take the kids with her.

As parents struggle to find innovative ways to balance work and family, turning business trips into family outings is gaining popularity - especially during summer, when fragile child-care arrangements often grow worse.

According to the Travel Industry of America, a trade group based in Washington, D.C., 15 percent - or 41.3 million - of business trips taken last year included children, up from 12 percent in 1990. America’s executives are taking more and longer trips, with the average annual time away from home growing to 22.7 nights from 16.8 nights over the last decade. The numbers have caught the attention of everyone from airlines to hotels as they scramble to stock Pampers and start kids programs.

To really gauge the sea change, ask Anne Levin, a health care consultant who has two daughters born a decade apart. In 1986, to board the Washington-to-New York shuttle with a baby and a diaper bag was to know how lepers felt in the Middle Ages.

“The look I got from other passengers as I walked down the aisle was one of sheer terror,” said Levin, who lives in Connecticut. “Their eyes pleaded: ‘Please don’t sit here.’ I felt as if I had a disease.”

Today, when she travels with her 5-month-old daughter, copies of the Wall Street Journal still outnumber “Pat the Bunny,” but Levin doesn’t feel like such a pariah.

“One man actually offered to hold my baby while I ate,” she said incredulously.

Some - particularly nursing mothers and single parents - take kids along out of necessity. Others see it as an opportunity to expand a child’s horizons, as when Hillary Clinton brought Chelsea along to Bosnia.

Some parents do it with the company’s blessing; others do it on the sly. “I think attitudes vary tremendously from organization to organization and from region to region,” said Ginger Hackett of Work Solutions, a firm in Portland, that advises companies on human-resources issues. “In industries where it’s difficult to find skilled people - such as engineering - there’s more willingness to supply support. And you’ll find more flexibility on the West Coast than the Northeast.”

Kathie Kahle is based in the Chicago area and covers much of the Midwest for 3M. She takes her two children, ages 8 and 11, on trips about five times a year. She often goes with a friend who brings her offspring and watches the brood at the pool while Kahle conducts business.

“I have a great boss,” Kahle said. “As long as you do your job, no one cares.”

That’s easier for women to say, said a male accountant who has traveled with his 12-year-old son for the last four summers. “It’s the double standard in reverse,” he said. “I think the corporate world is more understanding of a mother on business with a child, but I don’t think fathers get that same benefit of the doubt.”

Like many moms, he absorbs the additional costs and is careful to make sure any expense-account receipts show no telltale signs that he had company. His only other precaution is to instruct his son to never answer the phone - in case it’s the office. During the day, his son stays in the room while his father meets with clients.

At night, they often take in a baseball game. “It’s worth it … although I’m not crazy about all the time spent watching TV or playing Nintendo,” the accountant said.

The fact that Nintendo is as standard as mini-bars indicates just how essential the kid trade has become. With so many hotels offering supervised children’s programs, there’s no reason that a child has to be held hostage in the room.

KiddieCorp, which is based in San Diego, spotted the child-care void 10 years ago. Now, the company supplies bonded care givers to about 80 conventions, conferences and trade shows throughout North America, said Kristin Leach, program coordinator.

“You’ve got to really want for this to work,” said McGunn. “But the time with your kids is so precious. It’s definitely worth it.”