Ten-year-old Ariel Ajimura missed out on a class field trip to 'Iolani Palace yesterday to spend the day watching her mother oversee a Lexus television commercial as part of the national Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work Day.

"There are times Mommy has to work late and I want to be with her," said Ariel's mother, Sandy Ajimura, creative director for Servco Automotive Marketing. "I want her to be able see what I do at work."

Ariel, a fourth-grader at Moanalua Elementary School, joined millions of boys and girls around the country yesterday who got to see their parents in action on the job.

The Ms. Foundation For Women founded and oversaw Take Our Daughters To Work Day for 10 years, and three years ago it evolved into Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work Day.

The idea is to teach children about balancing family and jobs. The Ms. Foundation For Women cites a study by the Families and Work Institute that found that 90 percent of students who said they plan to have a job also plan to have children — and 81 percent of those girls and nearly 60 percent of boys said they'll cut their work hours when they have their own children.

"The girls realize now there is no difference between Mommy and Daddy," Ajimura said. "Everyone works hard."

While Ajimura was growing up, she only knew that her mother, Nancy Nakano, worked in public relations for Jaja Fashions, but didn't really know the details of her work.

Ariel spent all day yesterday bouncing around Kaka'ako, Chinatown, Tantalus and other parts of Honolulu watching the production of a 30-second commercial featuring a 2007 Lexus ES 350.

She peeked into the camera's monitor and had the commercial's actor, Steve Florin, sign a model release and loan agreement for having him drive the brand new Lexus in the commercial.

Ariel would someday like to become a pediatrician, but said that watching her mom at work was still "very cool."

"I didn't know how many times you have to shoot the car," Ariel said mid-way through the filming. "It takes so long just to make a 30-second commercial."

One of the goals of Take Your Daughters And Sons To Work Day is to have the children go back to school and share what they saw — and Ariel plans to talk about her experience today back at Moanalua Elementary.

"I never knew it would be so tiring and tough," she said. "Imagine how long it must take to make movies."

For her mother, the rewards will come from the memories of yesterday.

"It's really special because I get to work," Ajimura said, "and still have Ariel with me."

Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com.