I recently had the opportunity to spend some time with my son, designing a website for a group of friends. I have to admit that it was an awakening for me.

First, I saw him in a whole new light.. I knew he was a bright guy, but never got to experience him from a co-worker perspective until I had this opportunity. We were able to focus on the task at hand, treat each other like peers and work through design changes, differences in opinion, in a way we'd never done before.

Jeff, while only 15, is pretty adept at Photoshop, and in the course of a couple of hours, were able to design, what we believed to be a stylish and effective website. My friends liked the website so much that they are now using him to test web applications across platforms and with a variety of browsers. A sophomore in High School, he's already taking on tasks that I would have had experienced IT folks perform in a previous life.

In the next few weeks I'll be forming an LLC with Jeff as a partner.

The next time I pass a company with a name of "xxx" & Son, it will always remind me of the special afternoon I recently had. Hopefully we'll get to spend many more together working on IT projects (assuming his homework gets done!)