My 1st Job (by Eli)

Well, I'm just a few days shy of 7 weeks old and I'm already having to pull my weight in this family! I know the economy isn't doing so well right now, but I never realized that it was so bad a 7 week old needed to work! My mommy needed to do some last minute Christmas shopping yesterday in Natchez. She called Nick-Nick to see if she knew where a certain gift was and Nick-Nick suggested that my mom bring me to her work so I wouldn't have to get out in the cold. I thought this was a great idea at the time...little did I know what my Nick-Nick had in store for me! My mommy brought me up to Nick-Nick's office sound asleep (it's tough being a baby!). Mommy left my diaper bag and told Nick-Nick about when I would need to eat (Sheesh, Mom! Nick-Nick's had a kid. She probably knows what a hungry baby looks like!) and then she left to go shop. I was quite content as you can see below, but that all was about to change....

Nick-Nick works for a man named Jimmy Hibbs. My Mommy and Daddy think he is a really funny man. He came up to see Nick-Nick and saw me. He was quite shocked to find a baby in the office! He asked Nick-Nick if they had started a daycare business on the side. I guess he was the last one to find out :) I opened my eyes for a little bit to check him out. I wanted to see if he was as funny as Mommy and Daddy thought.

Apparently, Mr. Jimmy and Nick-Nick needed some "help" around the plant that day, so they gave me Dry Cleaner Weekly to do some quick learning about the business. I'm a quick learner, but I didn't know I'd have to put my skills to the test so quickly!


Dry Cleaner Weekly was an interesting read...yeah right! I fell fast asleep, but that didn't stop them from making me work!

I mean, how good am I? I'm working in my sleep! They decided to let me start off with something small. I got to tag some clothes that were ready to be dry cleaned. Geez! This job is so easy a baby could...well, you get the idea!

I guess the Maytag man was not in their area that day because Mr. Jimmy asked me to take a look inside their dryer. Looks good to me, Mr. Jimmy! You may want to adjust the heat settings the next time you use it...looks like an element is out.


All the employees thought that I was Mr. Jimmy's grandson, which was fine with me. He can claim me if he wants to :) Here we are at the pressing machines. I can make a mean crease in a shirt now! I learned that skill at home from my Daddy. He irons his shirts every morning and I watch him while I'm eating my breakfast.


Now don't look too closely at the number on the scale...you wouldn't want me to look at yours! It is the holiday season, you know, and unfortunately, I get all my calories from my mom. As you can tell, she hasn't really been cutting back on the sweets! We'll go on our diet after New Years :)
Thanks, Mom, now I look fat! If Biggest Loser calls, I'm going to blame it all on you!


After seeing that everything downstairs was moving right along, I headed up to Mr. Jimmy's office. I thought since I was doing his job, I should at least have his chair for a little bit. I think I look very professional here. You're looking at a future CEO in training.


Not only did I have to tour the plant to make sure the employees were doing a great job, but I also had to take some time to make some calls. I had to call all the other plants to check on how things were going there. I'm not sleeping either...just "resting my eyes."


Ugh! The life of a businessman. I got the reports from all the other stores and had to crunch some numbers real quick. My Daddy does this all the time, so I've learned from the best. Look Grammy! I'm holding the pen in my left hand. Maybe I'll be the next lefty in the family!


After running the numbers, I saw that Mr. Jimmy and Nick-Nick were running a solid operation. I was going to have to come down hard on them if they hadn't been. I'm still going to keep my eye on those two though.


I guess Mr. Jimmy thought I didn't know my continents because he decided to show me the globe. Hello? I had 3 months of first grade. I think I know Africa when I see it.



My buddy Jonah had to go to daycare that day so his Mommy (Nick-Nick) could work, but I was thinking about him. If he had been there, I'm sure they would have made him work, too! I'm calling the child welfare office the next time I see them for sure! Talk about breaking child labor laws...I guess they needed my help though because they didn't have one single problem or complaint while I was there. The next time I go, I'm going to demand some pay from them :) You can't get all my hard work for free!