The young and the sometimes restless

The Moyai Seiyukai nursing home in Kitakyushu, Japan, recently opened a new job listing... and their recruits seem a litttttle young to be joining the workforce. 

While the new position is fun in itself (more details on that in a sec), compensation in the form of formula milk, baby diapers, and afternoon tea is what really got the applications flooding in. 

😎 Boss Baby... This mystery position (suspense, building) is only open to babies three years-old and younger, and the job description involves “visiting whenever you want” and “walking around as much as you like.”

And now that the suspense is at a crescendo, here's the job title: "baby employee." The idea started with Gondo Kimie, head of the facility, who realized how much the nursing home residents cheered up when her own grandchildren would come visit. 

• “When elderly residents saw them, they smiled,” she said. “The atmosphere was good.”

👶 Building a team... After posting flyers around the neighborhood looking for friendly babies, Gondo was thrilled by how many families volunteered to stop-in at the center. 

• Last year, the home only had one baby recruit. Now they have thirty-two.

❤️ Changing Lives... The "employees" wander around the facilities freely with their parents, interacting with any residents that need a little extra love. And while some elderly folk just admire the babies from afar, Gondo has been pleasantly surprised by the amount of people who actually go up and interact with the young ones. 

“Even the people who usually don’t speak much and don’t smile a lot or don’t move, as soon as they see the babies, their facial expressions get brighter,” Gondo shared. 

• The babies often grow special bonds with the residents as well. Gondo hopes that as the kids grow up, they will always see Moyai Seiyukai as a special part of their lives. 
• “I hope that when (the children) start going to elementary school or junior high school, they continue to visit this center like their home anytime."