Providing Opportunities

Yesterday Daughter and I picked up one of her friends and I took them to McDonald’s and a movie. D finished high school in 2004, and is living in one of the supported living homes in Town. She was so nervous at McDonald’s—she had never ordered her own food before! I was amazed. Now Daughter is probably higher functioning than D, but still, I would have thought D would have ordered her own food before.

I let the girls sit at their own table, and I went over to a small table, looking forward to reading while the girls talked. That thought ended when 3 of the men from the workshop entered accompanied by support staff. One, T, is related to some of the saints, so he knows me and has taken a liking to me. As his mother puts it, T is an 8 year old with 40 years of experience. When he saw me, he made a beeline for my table. So, instead of reading my book, I talked to T. His two buddies went over to bug the Daughter and D, but T sat with me and played with his yo-yo.
When I realized how sheltered D was, I decided I’d best go to the movie with them. I think I was the oldest non-grandparent in the theater. The girls had a great time. There were previews for High School Music 3, which opens in 3 weeks. I suspect that I will be back at the theater in 3 weeks for the big event. At least since this is coming out in the theaters, Daughter will only be able to watch it once that weekend. When the last one came out she watched it about 5 times the first weekend.

She told me after we dropped D off how glad she was that she didn’t go to Best Friend’s apartment to hang out with BF and 3 guys. She told me she would have been very uncomfortable there. She is spending less time with BF, and I am very grateful.