It’s no secret that some weeks are harder to get through
than others. On-the-job obstacles range
from a tough meeting at work, a difficult project, having too many tasks and not
enough time.
A difficult week for a kid might mean tests at school, losing
homework, a fight with a friend, losing screen privileges for sassing your mom,
having to do extra chores.
If you’re a stay at home mom, MY GOD there is no such thing
as a difficult week because you have every day to fill with whatever you fancy,
whether it’s getting caught up on your favorite reality TV show or spending the
day getting your hair and nails done.
Ha ha ha. My last haircut was in the middle of summer, and the last coloring job I had is grown out 6 inches at least. And just yesterday I cleaned
bathrooms and had my hands in two toilets, one of which
had not been flushed in some time.
It was… stinky.
Anyway, the kids and I were sitting at the table Monday
evening for dinner, and they were in pretty good moods because Mondays at our
house mean soup for dinner, their favorite.
My kids love Soup For Dinner Monday because it’s simple and simple dinners mean minimal
clean up, and because I expect help when
it’s time to clean up, having minimal clean up means they have more time to
do other things they love.
I know. I’m the
meanest.
So they were talking about how easy dinners like soup make
Monday more fun for them, because they know that they will have an easy night
which makes Monday less of a
party-pooper than it already is.
(and now I will reflect on my own feelings about Monday, which is the first of five days in a
row that I get to spend at home, all by myself)
***
The kids felt that every
day should have its own thing to look forward to, in case you have a crappy
day and need to daydream your way through it just to keep your head from
exploding.
It’s funny how my kids are so like me. I’ve been employing this technique for years,
and they came up with it all on their own.
Note that their fantasies do not involve
Adam Levine but are instead appropriately-aged, not to mention realistic and
easily adapted to any person.
Although I would argue that thinking about Adam Levine while
scrubbing toilets is not a bad way to get through that particular chore.
The following is what my children came up with:
Tips for Getting
Through a Difficult Week
On Monday, plan
on doing something fun in the evening. Don’t
schedule anything on Monday evenings – ease into your week. Have soup for dinner so you can spend extra
time playing video games and watching Disney channel shows on a loop.
On Tuesday, just
do your regular thing. Nobody really
minds Tuesdays. (I would add that Tuesday is thought to be the most productive day
of the week. Try not to plan too much,
and watch as your to-do list is completed in record time. Then take a nap.) Alternately, eat tacos on Tuesday. Everyone loves Taco Tuesday.
Wednesday is Hump
Day. Yell out Hump Daaaaay! every chance
you get. Delight in the potential annoyance factor
of this activity. Play that commercial where the camel yells "HUMP DAYYYYY" at everyone every
hour on the hour until you’re asked to stop, which won’t happen because
everyone still loves it, because it’s genius.
Everybody loves Thursday. Like Tuesday, nobody really minds
Thursday. Technically the day before the
weekend officially starts, you can use Thursday as a springboard for planning
the weekend. Personally, I think the
love of Thursday comes from Must-See TV in the 80s and 90s.
Fridays can be
awesome, but they can also be terrible.
According to my kids, most tests occur on Friday, which sucks (yes, my
kids say sucks. I’m only an
average-to-bad mom when it comes to language).
Most firings occur on Fridays, too.
And Friday is the last day of freedom for stay-at-home moms. So Friday can be good because Friday = weekend = staying up late, sleeping in, all-around party time, but it can also be bad
because Friday = failure and job loss = destroyed dreams and general devastation. Basically Friday is the guy in high school
you had a crush on and who asked you out, thus making your life awesome, but he was probably going to dump you before prom.
My daughter says that the best way to get through a
tough week is to be positive every single day and to see everything as
fun because it will make the week go faster, because haven’t you ever heard of
the saying “Time flies when you’re having fun?”
And despite my son’s and my sort of combined general dreariness,
we had to admit that she might be onto something.
That and soup for dinner.
You really can’t go wrong with soup for dinner, any day of the week.
Time does fly when you are having fun - so it does stand to reason that a little fun every day would make the week easier. Very wise thinking.
ReplyDeleteMy children have not discovered the beauty of soup, for the most part - certainly not enough to have Monday night soup night. They do help with the clean up, though, so I may be able to sell them on it from the fast-clean-up angle. :)
Fast clean up is always a good start! I don't know where my kids got this adoration for soup. I love it, though, so maybe that's a good indication. :)
DeleteSuch wise children you have there, Andrea!
ReplyDeleteNow that my boys are both in school, I have things to look forward to I can do on my own e.g. yoga, gym, baking, and er, um, naps.
All that free time is so GOOD to look forward to, isn't it?
DeleteI have had free days for so long that I'm afraid that I've given myself very little time to relax and enjoy it. It's funny how the time still gets filled up with "things."
We do have a lot of soup around here for dinner in the colder months.
ReplyDeleteSince I homeschool my girls, we try to make Friday our fun days. No school work, instead we go to the bounce house, the Discovery Museum and such. They love it and it helps make getting through the week easier.
Soup is comfort food, for sure. I think that's why my kids like it?
DeleteFun Fridays are a definite win, especially when you're all at home together. That would be my favorite day for sure. :)
Adam Levine... sigh! Since The Voice is back, I may have had a couple of naughty AL dreams this week.
ReplyDeleteHa! I love when that happens. :)
DeleteThis sounds like a good plan. I don't think I've ever done things to look forward to daily list. Pretty sure most of mine would be bedtime.
ReplyDeleteSometimes bedtime is the most viable option. :)
DeleteI think your daughter is definitely onto something. I tend toward dreary, too, but there really should be something to look forward to every day, right?
ReplyDeleteYou've got the picture! Oh, now I think I've given myself a headache with all this positiveness. :)
DeleteMy grandma taught me a variation of the lesson your daughter taught you: Before you go to bed you have to think of a reason to get up the next day. When things have been really bad, sometimes I've had to bribe myself with "You can have pancakes for dinner." That is my family's equivalent of soup Mondays. Easy clean up, fast, and brain dead.
ReplyDeleteYour Grandma is a genius. And pancakes for dinner are, too. :)
DeleteThe Cosby Show on Thursdays, I remember and agree that might be why I still like Th. Mondays for me are like Fridays are for my husband, exhale days. We do pizza/movie Fridays here that kids have come to love as family time. They get all sulky if we invite friends. Such little hermits. My one thing, so so sadly, to look forward to daily is coffee and snuggling my dogs. People are complicated, my dogs are warm and happy...like your soup.
ReplyDeletePizza and movie Fridays sound great and would be something that would make Fridays more palatable - I have to admit Friday comes early for me every week. I also look forward to coffee - it's really the main reason why I get up in the morning.
Deletesolid advice! I always try to plan something delish for dinner OR save a good TV show for Mondays :)
ReplyDeleteIt works, doesn't it? :)
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