Working

I have always been the parent that really puts Maddy out there. I tend to be a bit more aggressive in having her try and do things that involve being outside the house. One of the things I have been leaning towards is Maddy getting a part-time job. We have to be careful about how much money she can make due to Federal assistance programs, but a part-time job at minimum wage will not be an issue. I feel that a job will give her exposure to people, situations and problem solving situations that Mark and I can not provide.

It has been my thought that she would work at Randall's or Kroger. They historically are very good with special needs kiddos. Maddy has been pretty neutral on the subject. She turns 16 in October so I have just been bringing it up once in a while to see how possible this might be.

Yesterday Maddy and I were at the mall doing our usual thing. We had just finished playing with the puppies at the pet store and headed to Hot Topic which is Maddy's favorite store in the mall. For those of you who are not familiar with Hot Topic it is one of those stores were people buy they things we old people say "where on earth could you buy something like that". All the workers in the store are very helpful and friendly, however I think it is a hidden requirement to have piercings and tattoos to work there.

In addition to the crazy clothes, they do have some cute clothes and a great selection of t-shirts. I usually look at the sale racks while Maddy looks at the Twilight stuff. They have a huge Twilight selection and now a lot of New Moon stuff. Maddy owns so much Twilight stuff that I refuse to buy any more for her. (She says Papa Ken I love you lots and I just finished my Christmas gift cards! ) If you are around Maddy for more than 10 minutes you will have enough Twilight trivia to win any contest.

Yesterday as we were checking out Maddy and the store manager started talking about all things Twilight. About halfway into the conversation Maddy decided that she needs to work at Hot Topic. She started asking about how old do you have to be, what could they find for her to do. The manager was very sweet and told her to fill out an application when she was 16.

The rest of the afternoon Maddy was making plans for how this was gonna work. She informed me that I could take her to work, go play with the puppies and then hang out in the boring cooking store (Williams Sonoma) until her shift was over. She then informed me that I would be allowed to look around Hot Topic but I was not to bother her because she would be helping customers. I could quietly tell her hello, but I could not interrupt her and start a conversation.

She then decided that she needed to work on her handwriting so that her co-workers could read what she writes and she wants to do some practice applications so that she will be all ready in October.

Who knows what will happen in October, but I know I will take advantage of this new desire to work on handwriting and job skills!