Good Days and Bad Days;, or I'm A K-Mart Reject But My Son Still Likes To Hug Me

I'm still job hunting, and it sucks. I don't really need a job, but I want one. I want more purpose and meaning in my life, and extra money never hurts. Honestly, I want the extra money so I can spoil my kid and buy myself some clothes that fit. Mine have shrunk while hanging in the closet, and it's depressing. I also want to be able to surprise my husband with a video game once in a while. I mean, it's not really a surprise if I tell him to give me some money so I can buy him a video game. Anyway...

I applied for a position at my local K-Mart. I'm not a huge fan of the place, but the employee discount would be awesome - especially around Trey's birthday and Christmas. I applied to be a cashier/customer service person. I know how to make change correctly, and have been doing it since I was in elementary school. I also have retail sales experience as well as experience in an office setting. I worked in the Mayor's office for a summer job in high school, and I worked at J.C. Penney's for a year after I graduated high school.

I spent almost an hour looking up phone numbers and addresses for my previous places of employment, filling out the online app, and the following questionnaire. Hell, I was even nice enough to take the post-application survey for them. I got an e-mail from Sears Holdings, LLC (they bought K-Mart) not 20 minutes later, telling me they appreciated me taking the time to apply to the job, but they were seeking more qualified candidates. What the *insert expletive here*?!? I know high school kids who were employed at K-Mart! Come on! Anyway, it was a bummer, and I was depressed for a few hours because I'm now a K-Mart reject.

Last night, my son posted something on Facebook that made my heart swell with pride. Our Indianapolis Fox affiliate, Fox 59, is feeding the animals at the Indianapolis Humane Society. For every 5000 fans they get, Fox 59 will buy food for ALL animals at the shelter for one month. 15,000 new fans = 3 months of food, etc. My son is 12 (almost 13) years old, and he's such a softie when it comes to animal. This is what he posted on Fox 59's FB wall last night: "Yey, I helped the animals but that's the right thing to do Isnt it?" Please ignore all spelling and grammatical errors. He's 12, and it was right before he had to go to bed. I, of course, posted a status about how proud I was of Trey, and told people to go to Fox 59's wall to read the post. I got some great positive feedback, which made me feel like I'm doing a good job as a parent.

Earlier this evening, I told Trey I saw his post and I was proud of him. I told him I didn't want to risk embarrassing him by posting "Mom notes" on his FB wall. He told me it wouldn't have embarrassed him, then told me a story about what happened at lunch at his school today. One of his friends asked Trey if he let his mom hug him. Trey said "Of course I let my mom hug me. Sometimes I need a hug, and hugging my mom makes me feel better." Then Trey hugged me in the kitchen while I was cooking dinner. I damn near cried.

I don't feel like a K-Mart reject anymore, but I do feel pretty damn good about my parenting skills.