Monday, Monday

Like probably every one of you, I’ve been disappointed as I’ve watched the weekends wave goodbye and to see Monday peeking its head around the corner.  We love Thursdays and Sundays in our family, but with those come Mondays.  Just as often.  But I decided that’s such a negative attitude to have; surely Mondays have their merits and so in looking for the good—as certainly always seems to be the case—I’ve found it.

I like getting up early again.  I feel kind of sluggish on the weekends, sometimes lacking purpose or direction.  But come Monday, I know I’ll wake up at 5:30 and exercise, the kids will be up soon after, we’ll do our schedule and life will fall back into place.

I love coming down to popcorn and ice cream bowls, remnants of an enjoyable Sunday night, another memory as a family.  I love that we made it happen, that we were able to spend the weekend together.

And so I love doing the dishes on Monday mornings, seeing all the parts of Sunday night pass through my fingers.  I love putting my kitchen back together.

I love that it’s trash day.  I relish the thrill of collecting the refuse from every single basket in our house: under the desk, the laundry room, all the bathrooms, including all the bits Finn has taken out, chewed on, and I’ve put back.  It all feels so tidy and ready for the week.

I love emptying my laundry bag and sorting the clothes, the towels.  It’s a little review of the weekend: working outside in the yard clothes, church clothes, tablecloths and placemats.  It feels so good to begin the process of transforming dirty to clean.  So satisfying!

While I honestly hate making my menu, I’m glad that on Mondays I know what’s going on for the rest of the week.  I like having a plan.

I like the recommitment to eating well and exercising.  Kind of like a mini New Year each week. We kind of fall off the wagon on the weekends.  Which we plan for and expect.  Just nice to know we’ll be back to normal come Monday.

I like having the house to myself again.  I get a little overwhelmed by all the people and activities and commotion of the weekend.  I like kissing everyone goodbye and getting to work.

I like having our Relief Society meeting some weeks.  Fun to gather with my friends to plan the month, to organize ourselves, to generate ideas.  I feel like I’m part of a team, so much stronger than I am on my own.

I like getting the hard parts of my week crossed off early in the week.  It feels like the rest of it is all downhill from here. 

I also like weeknight meals—easy old-school fare.  I like gathering again as a little family.  Weekends sometimes we’re scattered; Sundays we sometimes have other families over.  It’s nice to just be ourselves and to catch our breath.

I look forward to our family night traditions.  We calendar the week, we sing, we talk about the gospel or learn something new, we sometimes watch a short video or play games.  Or take a walk.  Have ice cream.  Sometimes we have others join us, and that is just as pleasant. Todd and I watch a little show after the kids go to bed and our company leaves.  Or we’ll do our puzzle.  Too late by this point to start a project.  We don’t really have meetings or other commitments, so we have a little window all to ourselves.  Which I absolutely love.

And yet I know I can find the good because it’s easy over here.  We have a family to gather with.  Todd doesn’t have to start a grueling week of travel, of getting up early for a daily commute like our friends do.  I didn’t spend the weekend grading papers or writing papers only to start in with classes come Monday.  I hardly have the street cred to write any of this.  But maybe you could write your own lists.  Maybe, if we all dig deep enough, we can find some happy things about Monday.  And maybe—just maybe—there is good to be found in every day.