Sunday, January 31, 2010

War on Mondays

Mondays. Bah.

It's such a common condition that it's almost pointless to say that you don't like Mondays. It's like saying that you don't like the taste of manure.

I always thought that, in order for Mondays to suck, you had to have a Monday to Friday job to go to. I'm home every day now, seven days a week, what should make Mondays any different?

A lot, apparently.

I thought it was a coincidence at first, so I didn't think too much of it. I just seemed to be more down some times than others, I never really noticed the day. It probably would have taken me even longer to notice if it weren't for the fact that we have a standing Monday night date with some friends of ours, and suddenly, after I quit my job, I never seemed to have the energy to go anymore.

So what is it about Mondays? I have a few ideas. I think the biggest part of it, for me, is that I have all of these plans for what I'm going to accomplish on the weekend. The glorious, magical weekend. Full of unlimited amounts of free time, a toddler who entertains herself, and a husband to help me carry heavy things to the basement. Then Monday rolls around. And the house is still a mess. And there is still a 100-pound computer sitting in the middle of the kitchen.

I'm sure there's a lot more to it than that, but it's enough for me to start troubleshooting solutions. Mondays mark the point during the week when I have the most things on my to-do list, and the longest stretch of time before I will have help getting them done.

So, I'm declaring War on Mondays. Tomorrow, there is nothing on my to-do list. Starting this week, Monday will be the day when Valerie and I can just relax and unwind from the busy weekend. I don't even have to make us lunch, because I made sure that there would be enough leftovers from the weekend for us to have tomorrow. And, most importantly, no guilt. No guilt for not being more productive. No guilt for turning on the TV and letting Pingu entertain Valerie for a while. No guilt if I happen to still be in my pajamas when it's time to get into my pajamas again for bed.

How do you deal with Mondays?

6 comments:

Unknown said...

I find that Mondays are hard because Ben goes back to work and it is just me and the kids. Even though I don't have a job to go to, I'm still up at 8 (at the latest) to do my "job" of being a mom. I feel like a robot some days. Wake up, get April, figure out her breakfast, plop her in the seat, get Jake, feed Jake, then, if I remember, I feed myself. There isn't really much happening on Mondays. My only highlight is House is on at 8 PM. If I can just make it through the day, then I can watch House. It totally ruins my day, however, if House is a rerun when I was anticipating a new episode. Ugh. I hope your no to-do-list Monday goes well. Sometimes the days when I don't have a to do list actually turn out to be my most productive days!

jeremywakeman said...

Speaking as the person who should have taken that really heavy computer that is sitting in our kitchen down to the storage area a while ago, I hereby declare that it probably won't break me to just pick the thing up and move it rather than trying to organize an expedition of some sort. I assume it will be ok if I don't stand in solidarity with you against the hated Monday; I'll leave one thing on my to-do list.

Emily said...

We used to routinely have Mondays for pajama days and it was great. I hope you enjolyed it. :) Now we drive 2.5 hours each way for Noah's AV therapy on Mondays- it's just not the same. For me (DC traffic aside) Mondays are rough because it marks going from tag team/dual parenting to doing it all on my own (at least 'til the evenings). Even when I taught I wasn't spending all day with no adult contact - I think that's a hard transition.

Emily said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
jon said...

I love Mondays these days, since I have a job to get up and go to. However, when I didn't have that, Mondays were brutal.

Alana said...

I also find Mondays difficult, I think it's a combination of trying to go back to things after being off the regular schedule during the weekend and having a second person around to help, and the fact that there don't seem to be any activities to do around here on Mondays. So my strategy is to try and make plans with my neighbors on Monday mornings, and to have Monday be my "plan the week's menu and go grocery shopping day".