Day One on the Job

I managed to make it through my first evening. I still don't really know what I'm supposed to be doing. The girls will take time to warm up to me. One did spend some time with me and talked with me while we were at the gym.

Let's see ... I got there and first is quiet time. This is the time that the girls are trickling in from school. They go to several different schools in the area. They use this time to wind down, read, listen to their music, do homework.

After that we walked down to the administration building for them to blow off steam and get some exercise in the gym. This building isn't right next door. For the average person it's at least a five minute walk. Took me about ten but I made it there and back, no problem! They played basketball, rollerskated, tossed a football around, bounced on a rebounder, and danced. We were there for about an hour.

By the time we got back to the home, it was almost dinnertime. The person who cooked didn't cook enough food. (I guess because this is a developmentally disabled program, the girls don't do much in the kitchen at all.) They had chicken pot pies, macaroni and cheese, and tossed salad. There were only 12 pot pies for 15 people and not much mac and cheese, so I did not eat. (Not like I should have eaten either of those anyway!) I did have a breakfast bar in my bag and a banana just in case something like this happened, so I didn't go hungry.

After dinner we had a group meeting where each girl had to discuss one of her goals. They all have individual goals for things like anger management, accepting feedback, accepting being told now when they ask a question, reducing rudeness to others, etc. Basically, the girls go around and have questions they have to answer (set up by the therapist) to help them learn more appropriate ways to do things and be successful in life.

It was one girl's birthday, so the girls who had their privileges went to Wendy's for ice cream treats. When they returned there was birthday cake (I had a small square) and then phone times and time to prepare for bed. All in all, it was okay and no one had any real outbursts that couldn't be diffused.

On the apartment front, they finally received the verification from my employer. Mandi faxed a paper for us to them that they needed. So we should be all set. They just have to tell us when we can get the keys. We're hoping that will be Thursday or Friday morning. I am so ready to not be living in a hotel anymore!