Fun-day Monday

(noun) the day of the week before Tuesday and following Sunday

Yes, it is Monday again.  Who loves Mondays?  I’m thinking that most would say…nope.  So, what exactly is a fun-day Monday?

Well, from the mouth of my 5 year-old-daughter, it is amazingly almost every Monday!  Part of her nightly routine involves asking what is happening the following day.  On Sunday nights, when she hears “tomorrow is Monday”, she usually replies with, “a fun-day Monday?”  This gets my attention each time.

For many, Sunday nights are a little dreary because the next morning brings back the daily grind.  The weekly rat race.  Tiresome responsibilities.  Weekends hold many activities too, but they differ from the rest of the week and are usually more “fun”.  More of our socializing, honey-do lists, shopping, events, quick travels, sleeping in, and games happen over the weekend than typically occur during the week.

So, I introspect and reflect.  For a little girl whose every day is a “fun day”, why does she say this phrase in regard to Mondays? Especially at the conclusion of a fun-day Friday, fun-day Saturday, and fun-day Sunday?  Even though she hasn’t actually expressed her explanation, I have been thinking about this:

1. The label of a “Monday” means nothing to her.  She’s anticipating a new day.
2. She needs the routine.

And from that speculation, I am making my own conclusions.

How did this poor day get such a bad rap anyway?  I need to throw away the dreaded Monday label and be excited for new day…and a new week!  The book of Lamentations tells us that the Lord’s mercies and compassions are new every morning.  We get a fresh start even on Mondays!   Today can be productive and I can be happy making it so.  I get to choose how I feel about today.  We can’t live only for the fun or relaxation of the weekends because we’ll miss out on the neat opportunities during the week.  

Routine is good.  (Sometimes we need to break out of routine, change things up, etc., but for now I’m talking about the benefits of routine.)  Kids really do thrive and feel safe when there is some normalcy in their week. After a weekend with a little more freedom from schedule, I think that my daughter is depending on beginning a week with our routine.

This morning meant my husband leaving the family to head to work, that my boys and I needed to get an early start because school duty calls, and that the chores and housework that slid by over the weekend and are now looming ahead and needing to be tackled. But, even in all of that, there is some level of peace and comfort knowing that it’s time to get back into the swing of things.  Having the ability and chance to get into the swing of things is good.

This day will only come around once.  I want to anticipate today and take every opportunity to thoroughly enjoy it.  I will never have this day back.  I can’t pretend that all of my to-do list today is fun, but there really are 2 choices.  Get my list done and be miserable while doing it, which usually prolongs the tasks anyway; or get my list done and be thankful I am alive and well enough to have a list.

My daughter believes Mondays are fun days and I’m thankful for the spark she shares.  Mondays can be fun!  After all…

this is the day the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad in it                  (Psalms 118:24)

Take a Chill Pill

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine… Proverbs 17:22

I woke up this morning to an upside down house.  It made me want to crawl back to my bed.  Or whine and cry.  Definitely not laugh and be merry.

We had a great weekend away from home.  But, you know vacations are actually a lot of work?  Yeah, the suitcases for five with both the dirty and some clean clothes, the toiletries, the many pairs of shoes or boots, and now thanks to the “below zero” weather this weekend, there are the coats, gloves, and hats too!  Not to mention the things that somehow find freedom from the bags they were originally stowed: electronic devices and their cords, wrappers, empty water bottles, loose papers torn out of coloring books or notebooks, stepped on crackers…  Got the picture?  Well, most of these items (and more) were still scattered around my house.  Despite my efforts to have left the house looking “company-ready” on Thursday, it suddenly was most definitely not.

I shared a few of my weary thoughts with my husband and he suggested getting the boys started with school, put on Christmas music, and start cleaning one room at a time.  This idea actually didn’t sound too bad!

After he scooted out the door for work, I decided to…take a chill pill. 

You see, sometimes I feel like a drill sergeant.  I’m not an early bird, but during the school week, I want the boys to get up and moving so they can get their school work done.  ASAP.  (By the way, we are thoroughly enjoying the “Sefcik Schoolhouse” and I thank God for this opportunity.  We do not take this responsibility lightly!)  But, there is more than just school work to be done.  We wake up running and we go to bed exhausted.  I feel like I am constantly hurrying the poor ducklings along to the next project, place, or program.  You know the drill.  The outside jobs, the meals to cook and then clean up, the laundry, the bank runs, the bills, filling the van with gas or getting its oil changed, rummaging through stored up treasures (or junk – whichever way you want to look at it), rearranging, shopping…and on and on and on it goes.  

So in the midst of the daily, sometimes exceedingly-rushed routine, I find myself becoming overly serious.  Snapping orders and running about.  (Maybe like a chicken with its head cut off.  Okay, it’s not that bad.  Hopefully I don’t run in circles.  *smile*)

This “chill pill” I took today was deciding to stay home.  THE WHOLE DAY.  I decided we were going to start school after lunch.  I took the idea of playing music.  Only it wasn’t Christmas music.  It was a toddler Veggie Tales CD of silly songs.  And it was cranked remarkably loud.  

We had so much fun!  We started with cleaning the boys’ room and moved on to the downstairs family room.  Next, we tackled the laundry.  I purposed to enjoy their help, and help they did!  We accomplished enough to satisfy my “whine”.

Then the real fun began.

I can’t quite recall how it all started, but as we were finishing up the laundry, we started tickling each other.  This turned into a tickling/wresting/chasing-around-the-house war.  It lasted a good 45 minutes.  I don’t know the last time I let my hair down (literally) and truly played with them during a scheduled “work day”.  Sure, we take breaks and do art projects.  We exercise and run laps around the outside of the house.  I believe we even have fun with the typical routine.

But, this just felt good.  Taking the time to run around and laugh and be silly changed the outcome for the rest of my day. Our day.  Because when mama is merry, her house is merry.

I chose this day to just take a chill pill.

And with no regrets, I am thankful that I did.

this is the day the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad in it  (Psalms 118:24)