A Tough Choice

We had a meeting last week with Beth's job coaches. We meet once a year to talk about her jobs, what's working and what's not working. For the first time in 3 years Beth is unemployed so we made a list of places she would like to work.

Walmart
Target
The Mall Food Court
Bed, Bath and Beyond
Fred Meyer

We listed her strengths and weaknesses, what environments she works best in and places that wouldn't be a good fit. It was a really good meeting and I'm happy with the enthusiasm her coaches have in finding her a new job. They are meeting Beth this Thursday at Fred Meyer to walk through the different departments, meet the workers and see if there is one area that might be a good fit for her.

She is learning a hard lesson though because we went to Fred Meyer before the meeting and she wanted to buy a CD player. Unfortunately, she isn't working right now and has no real spending money. She went to the music department while Sharaya and I went to the toy section. A few minutes later Beth showed up with a Fred Meyer bag in her hand. I told her she wouldn't be able to go bowling this week. She also likes to buy a muffin and juice on Sunday mornings before church. She wouldn't be able to buy that either. She stood in the middle of Freddies and thought about it for a while. She finally decided to return the CD player. It wasn't easy! Her job coaches praised her on making such a tough choice. I'm also using this to teach her how important it is to do your job well. We might not like it when our bosses tell us what to do, but if you don't have a job, you don't have money to buy things. I'm hoping this will be a lesson she remembers for a long time.