$29.18

Just picked up my daughter. She was wearing the kimono-type shirt that they wear at the restaurant with an apron which means that she got the job! She made it through training! Not only that, they let her keep her tips tonight. She made a whopping $29.18 and she is SO proud. My husband had the idea of framing her first dollar bill made at her first job and I'm going to get a frame this weekend so that she can hang it in her room.



She is absolutely beautiful in the kimono-type shirt. I will take a picture of her in it soon and post it.



They want her to come back this Thursday. She will only make tips then. Afterwards, she will work every Tuesday and Thursday and starting next Tuesday she'll be making her hourly wage of $8.00 an hour plus tips. She figured out tonight that if she was paid her hourly wage with the tips, she would have made $69.18 just today. Not bad for a 15 year old!



I told her that she can spend the money that she made tonight however she wants but that next time she is going to keep a percentage for savings. At first she really didn't like the idea of me deciding what percentage of money she should save because she said, "Momma, does this mean that even though I have a job and am working HARD and am making MY OWN money that YOU will tell me how I can spend it?" I looked at her at her with a smile and said, "I realize that you don't like this and I understand why you wouldn't. I have been planning for years that when you got your first job that I would take you to the bank to open your own checking and savings account so that you can start learning how to spend your money responsibly. It's easy to just blow it and in the end you'll kick yourself. Not only that, but I want you to save certain percentages for certain things and this will even help you with math and percentages. You'll learn how to balance your checkbook and basically be taught how to manage your money. A lot of people, including me, was never taught this and when they became adults they really messed up their finances. I don't want that for you. If you mess up your finances when you are an adult, it won't be because you didn't know any better."



She smiled while agreeing and then asked that we start saving a percentage of her money next week and let her keep the tip money she makes Thursday night. I said it was OK to do that and she'll start saving next week. I asked her what she was going to do with the tip money she'll make this week and she said that she really couldn't decide if she wanted to save it for her car or spend it. She's been wanting "Guitar Hero 3" and I reminded her of it and said that she could save the money to buy that for herself since it retails here at around $97.00. Guess what she said?



She actually said...and I cannot believe this...



"No, Mom, I'm going to wait to get it for my birthday or Christmas. I don't want to spend my money for that." I said, "Oh, but you want to spend mine!" to which she replied with no words but a smile.

First Job Jitters

Tonight is my daughter's last night training at the restaurant. She did really well this past Sunday night and had a lot more confidence about it all. Prior to going Sunday she said that she didn't want to go and was very nervous about getting people's orders and serving food for the first time. She was so scared that she would make a mistake. She started at 5:00pm and from 5:00pm to 7:30pm I received text messages that went back and forth like this (and there are typos because it was text messages):

Daughter: Mom im so scared!
Me: Don't be scared...You can do this! I believe in you and you need to believe in you too. I am so proud of you for doing this my dear.
Me: I also meant to tell you that the manager noticed you looked very tired last time and that is why she said to go home. That is not a good thing.
Me: Even if you feel tired, don't act like you are or say you are because you need to prove to them that you can do this. I love you and you don't need to reply.

A little bit later:

Daughter: There r other waitresses here and now i feel like im going 2 do something embarassing...well of course i was tired! It was my 1st day.
Daughter: I want 2 go home.
Me: Honey, don't worry about the other waitresses. They had to learn as well once and they understand. You need to try and stick this out. You'll be proud of yourself.
Daughter: But mom their chinese they r familiar w/ the food so its easy 4 them!
Me: Honey...seriously, you can do this. Don't get in trouble texting...just learn now. You will feel better afterwards. Decide that you can do this and don't let anything stop you.

I didn't receive anymore text messages that night. When she had a small break around 8:30pm, she did call and said that she had her own table and had served five couples. You could tell that her self-confidence was much better and she was having fun. When she got home that night she said it was nerve-wracking because she was so scared about making a mistake, but that she was able to get through it and it wasn't that bad. She wasn't as tired either.

Tonight she has her own tables the entire night. In fact, she won't have just one table to take care of, but FIVE. I cannot imagine how this night will be. Talk about throwing someone in the fire! This is only her third night of training. If she makes it through tonight, the manager will talk with the owner and we'll find out if they want to hire her. It's sad because she won't make any tips tonight. In fact, she hasn't made anything at all so far. She doesn't get paid during training. The other waitresses get her tips. She said that her eyes just get big because people have given some big tips (it's a pricey restaurant) and the other waitresses pocketed them. Oh well, we all have to start somewhere.

I really hope that she makes it through tonight and gets the job. It will really build her self-confidence. I'm worried that her self-confidence will go way down if they tell her that they don't want to hire her.

This will be quite interesting. I wonder what the text messages will be tonight. THAT IS if she even has the time to send one.