Monday
Jul282008
Manic Mondays
Monday, July 28, 2008
Most people hate Mondays. It is the end of the weekend and the start of the work week for much of the world.
That dreaded feeling of dragging yourself out of bed on a Monday to head off to work after a fun filled or relaxing weekend certainly played into my decision to choose Monday as my day off when I negotiated a 4 day work week for my current contract.
At the start of each Monday, I feel great. No rush to get out of my pyjamas. I can enjoy a nice full breakfast, instead of rushing to scarf down a muffin on my way out the door. I can sleep as long as my kids will let me (today, that was 30 minutes past the time my alarm clock would have been buzzing if Monday was a work day). As the day progresses, I feel twinges of guilt for sitting on my porch watching my kids play while others are slaving away in their cubicles. I am thankful that there are no meetings to go to, no eighteen dollar parking fees to pay, no bad coffee to drink. I get some chores done without rushing. I sometimes manage an afternoon nap with my little girl. All in all, it is a good day.
But the down side of Mondays is that as the day progresses and comes closer to its close, my patience begins to run thin. I start using discipline techniques that I don't like when my son won't cooperate. I get more annoyed than I should when my daughter won't lie down and stop kicking me as I try to change her dirty diaper. I am too tired to play another game or race cars or fix another snack.
The fact that I love my kids and I love spending time with them goes without saying. But the unfortunate thing about a 3 day weekend is that about 2.75 days of devoted attention to my kids without a real break seems to be about my limit before I start to lose my patience. I breathe a sigh of relief when they are finally in bed and asleep on Monday evening.
And the good news is that going to work on Tuesday morning isn't something I dread. It seems like a genuine break. Although I have plenty of work to do and lots on my plate, it is a change of pace and a change of scenery. It allows me to refill my cup with bad coffee and patience, and come home ready to embrace the two bundles of energy that are waiting for me.
That dreaded feeling of dragging yourself out of bed on a Monday to head off to work after a fun filled or relaxing weekend certainly played into my decision to choose Monday as my day off when I negotiated a 4 day work week for my current contract.
At the start of each Monday, I feel great. No rush to get out of my pyjamas. I can enjoy a nice full breakfast, instead of rushing to scarf down a muffin on my way out the door. I can sleep as long as my kids will let me (today, that was 30 minutes past the time my alarm clock would have been buzzing if Monday was a work day). As the day progresses, I feel twinges of guilt for sitting on my porch watching my kids play while others are slaving away in their cubicles. I am thankful that there are no meetings to go to, no eighteen dollar parking fees to pay, no bad coffee to drink. I get some chores done without rushing. I sometimes manage an afternoon nap with my little girl. All in all, it is a good day.
But the down side of Mondays is that as the day progresses and comes closer to its close, my patience begins to run thin. I start using discipline techniques that I don't like when my son won't cooperate. I get more annoyed than I should when my daughter won't lie down and stop kicking me as I try to change her dirty diaper. I am too tired to play another game or race cars or fix another snack.
The fact that I love my kids and I love spending time with them goes without saying. But the unfortunate thing about a 3 day weekend is that about 2.75 days of devoted attention to my kids without a real break seems to be about my limit before I start to lose my patience. I breathe a sigh of relief when they are finally in bed and asleep on Monday evening.
And the good news is that going to work on Tuesday morning isn't something I dread. It seems like a genuine break. Although I have plenty of work to do and lots on my plate, it is a change of pace and a change of scenery. It allows me to refill my cup with bad coffee and patience, and come home ready to embrace the two bundles of energy that are waiting for me.
Reader Comments (4)
[...] wondering what my poor sad least appreciated post of the year is, I would say it is this one: Manic Mondays. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Huffington Post raises $25 millionDid I leave the [...]
For those who may not be able to negotiate a 4-day week like you (which by the way makes me so Green with envy!), my suggestion would be to plan your Monday morning in a way that you end up doing the most enjoyable thing at your job. Of course, that is if your boss hasn't already scheduled a meeting on Monday morning! I am hoping that would not be the case every Monday.
Thinking about your most enjoyable activity at work and planning it for Monday morning could be a way to break the dreaded cycle. Long time ago, I read Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Successful People. You have got to move away from doing fire-fighting all the time and spend more time on what truly makes you happy at work.
Not saying that I have it all figured out. There are Mondays I don't want to be at work. But they are not that frequent. I am still working it out.
Cheers!
I was just reading about that song I Don't Like Mondays. I had no idea what it was about! Scary and terrible. I am a sahm working mom, so I can see how getting OUT would be a nice break! My husband and I have always wished we could share a job so we'd both be able to get out of the house AND be happy to see the little bug after some time away.
At the same time, when he was running around pantsless yesterday I was thinking sadly, "I don't want this to end!"
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