"You don't even get to sit down for a minute!" the 9-year-old third-grader said as her mother hustled from customer to customer, serving up pastries and hot meals. "My feet hurt!"

For Sixta, the 10th annual "Take Our Daughters to Work" day Thursday was a chance to miss school. But it also taught her an important lesson.

"My mom's job is hard," she said, her mother's name plate glimmering from her shirt.

Sixta was one of two daughters who worked full shifts with their mothers at the Alessi Bakery, joining about 11-million girls across the U.S. who shadowed their parents Thursday.

The program, created to expose girls to a variety of careers, will expand next year to include sons.

Sixta's mother, who shares the same name, said she accomplished her mission.

"I wanted her to see why I am so tired when I get home," said Rosendo, a bakery assistant manager. "It's not as easy as it looks."

Sixta, who donned a green Alessi work shirt tucked inside khaki low-rise pants, spent much of the day on the move.

She began work at 7 a.m. assembling pastry boxes -- more than 40 of them in the span of an hour -- then swept the floors and made sure the trays were filled with fresh-baked pastries.

"This is the hardest I have ever worked," Sixta said, sighing.

She had help from 14-year-old Loly Hernandez, whose mother also works behind the counter.

The Pierce Middle School seventh grader said she wants to work with sea creatures when she gets older.

"I wouldn't want to do this forever," she said.

Downtown, 11-year-old Devin D'Amico was more convinced than ever of her decision to become an attorney.

She spent the day assisting her mother, Michell D'Amico, who is an internal auditor for the School Board.

"She seems too stressed," Devin said.

Thursday was not a typical day for D'Amico because she was in the process of changing offices.

Devin, a Rodgers Middle School sixth grader, spent the day moving things and putting files in cabinets.

"She's definitely getting some work done," D'Amico said. "Not bad for lunch and a few snacks."

One of the youngest daughters to participate in the program was 5-year-old Courtney Modlin, who donned scrubs for a 2 1/2 hour-shift with her mother, Lynn, the manager of the ultrasound department at Tampa General Hospital.

It was Courtney's second year joining her mother.

"The scrubs were the cutest part," Modlin said. "Then the novelty wore off."

Modlin said she wanted, if only for a few hours, to expose Courtney to the broad field of medicine.

"I'm hoping that anything she might have seen or will continue to see will give her a better understanding of (all of the medical careers)," Modlin said. "And it makes work more fun. It's cute to see people walking in the halls with their daughters, like nurses and sales reps. The day is like a party."

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