The past week with my daughter has been surreal. Now that she is 16 she is planning on finding a summer job, and also is in need of a car. Fortunately, we have been putting money into a savings account since she was born specifically to either go towards a car or to use as spending money in college. Each kid can decide what they want to use the money for. When they get money for birthdays or Christmas, half of it automatically goes into their savings and the other half is their to spend. Cut to: CootieGirl is now 16 years old and can purchase a pretty decent used car (without the need of a loan) that should last her for at least the next 5-6 years, if not longer if she takes care of it with oil changes and regular maintenance checkups.
Last weekend we went and checked out a couple of cars, but neither one worked for her. The first was a 2010 Chevy Malibu with 65K miles on it. Without even driving it we determined it was too big for her. She’s looking to get a car the same size as my Hyundai Elantra since that’s what she’s been driving over the past year. Next up was a 2006 Toyota Corolla with 99K miles on it. We did take that one for a spin, and while CG liked it, she didn’t love it enough to pull the trigger (even though it was $1K less than her max budget).
I then found a 2011 Toyota Yaris with 97K miles listed by a private seller. We’ve made an appointment with the owner to meet up this weekend (Denis will go with us for safety reasons since I’m not big on meeting random strangers in parking lots). A couple of days ago I found a 2010 Hyundai Elantra but Denis had concerns that despite being only 9 years old and 65K miles on it, it has had multiple owners. So we’re skipping that one. Next was a 2011 Kia Forte with 97K miles on it. The price is great, but the main negative is that the car is at a dealership about 90 minutes away. Not sure it’s worth it to drive that distance to look at a car she may not want.
Fortunately, we’re not in too big a rush – as long as she has a car by the end of May we’ll be in good shape for summer (school lets out in early June).
And that leads us to the job hunt. CG has put strict restrictions on types of jobs she’s willing to work. No kids. No people at all, really. She does not wants a job that deals with money changing hands. No restaurant or fast food jobs. No grocery stores. For a young teen with no experience, that severely limits the types of jobs she is willing to have.
Yesterday I found out that a local dog groomer/kennel/day care facility had a part-time position available. I suggested she call and find out if the job was still available, if there was an age restriction, and the best method for applying. Last night she called and found out the job was open, 16 was the age limit, and she’d have to go to the facility to complete the application. So without delay we hopped in the car and down she went to fill out the application. I went with her since she was driving to a place she’d never been but stayed in the car while she went in. I think she walked in about 30 minutes after she called, so I can’t help but think they were impressed by her timeliness.
Sadly, she is already on the fence about whether or not she wants to work there. She texted me this morning and said she might be changing her mind on working there because there was something about the place she didn’t like. Oh, you mean the happy dogs being picked up by their owners? The owners all greeting each other warmly because they all know each other? The brand new facility that’s only 6-8 months old? I suspect she’s just nervous about the idea of getting her first job.
But she has a few other options. Despite not wanting to work in restaurant/fast food she did mention two food places she would consider, as well as a company opening a new building in our town that will be filling a lot of positions that don’t require experience. Those are all a bit closer to home as well, and it’s possible the 15 minute drive to the place we visited last night might be swaying her “feeling” about it.
Either way, it is surreal that my daughter, who looked like this seemingly yesterday:
is now car and job hunting.
