By Jenny Razor
Alicia Booker, mother of two, put in an application to the local Penny Saver to be a nighttime cashier after the fifth request to attend a no-pressure makeup and jewelry party at her stay-at-home neighbor’s house. Her decision to apply came from discovering that she had a trunkful of jewelry, but not enough money to fill her gas tank.
[adsanity id=”35664″ align=”aligncenter”/]“I’m waiting to hear back on whether I got the interview,” says Alicia as she leaves her full-time job in an accounting firm. “If I get the call back, I will feel better about going to Jill’s Super Gel party Sunday afternoon. She says the gel will guarantee no more bags under my eyes. I didn’t even realize the bags were getting so bad; must be all the extra hours I’ve been working.”
When the time came to have children, Alicia already had many friends that could stay at home and be there for their kids. That wasn’t in the cards for Alicia and Bill.
[adsanity id=”35667″ align=”aligncenter”/]“It’s so important that they are staying home with their kids. I just want to support them in that.” Alicia reports having been to three no-pressure parties this month.
When the get-togethers kept increasing, Alicia and her husband, Bill, decided to lease a mini-van in order to make room for all the purchases she was making.
Bill explains, “We had always intended to keep our vehicles compact. However, after the third time of borrowing my brother’s truck following one of these parties, we decided a mini-van was the way to go.” The smaller of their two cars is the one primarily used for hauling the children to and from daycare.
[adsanity id=”35665″ align=”aligncenter”/]“At Renee’s party this week, once she got a few glasses into the mimosas, she let fly that she needed these parties in order to feed her five kids solid meals every day. But she feels so lucky to be there for their every need, unlike working moms, like me, who don’t get the same opportunities,” Alicia explained.
Alicia figures that if she can get in 5 hours, 3 nights a week and an 8-hour shift on a weekend day at the Penny Saver, she can say yes to every Facebook invitation sent to her on a monthly basis. “It’s the least I can do to make sure that all those children get the time they need with their mom.”
After hearing another Facebook notification on her phone for the next Melissa Kisser mixer, Alicia cheerfully said, “I can surely see my kids on Tuesday and Thursday evenings when I’m not cashiering.”
“I think I might ask Bill to cut back on his hours at his job so that we don’t have to get a babysitter on the nights I work. He’s very supportive of all that I do to support my friends and will surely be able to rearrange a few things at the office.”
[adsanity id=”35666″ align=”aligncenter”/]As Alicia awaits the call back from the Penny Saver, she notes that she overheard her daughter, Suzy, promising to host a party for one of her preschool friends whose mom sells an over-the-counter skin smoother product. “Suzy assured me that we would get lots of free product to keep for ourselves if we could loan out the playroom for the afternoon.”
“I guess we will have to wait and see which Saturday I have off in the next few weeks,” Alicia explained.
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