Anyone else get that dreaded feeling when their spouse leaves for work on Monday morning? The one that sounds like "Uh-oh, not another Monday"? Maybe it's snowing where you are? Maybe you haven't slept through the night in 8 months? Does your Monday need a pick me up? You may just need some emergency fun.
Here are some ideas which have been done a thousand times before, they will not win any "Creative Parents of the Year" awards, but the good news is they all require almost no effort, and just might save your day.
1. Surprise Bath. What kid doesn't like a BATH. And today's bath is coming as a surprise - in the middle of the day! Make sure you add in loads of bubbles and a pile of new "toys". Head to the kitchen and stock up on egg beaters, basters, funnels...check out this post for more ideas.
2. Indoor picnic. Nothing spices up your 2000th piece of sliced apple like an indoor picnic. Lay a blanket out on the ground and pack up everyone's lunch. Teddy bears welcome!
3. Build a fort. A tried and tested classic. You'll need two tall-backed chairs (backs facing inwards) and a large blanket to start. Drape the blanket over the two chairs and you have your roof. Now add as many more chairs, side tables and blankets as you like. Don't forget to put pillows and a torch inside. If it's big enough, crawl in with the kids and read them a few of their favorite books. Another approach to fort building can be found here.
4. Order in a pizza. There are many reasons why America is awesome, and one of those reasons is pizza. Yes, I feed my kids healthy meals, which is exactly why every now and then it is okay to get an emergency pizza. Don't just keep the pizza joy to yourself, though, invite a neighbor and his or her kids over to share it with you! Chances are they need a bit of emergency Monday fun too.
I am pretty sure a bath, a picnic, a fort or a pizza will shine some happiness on even the most severe cases of Monday-itis, so get to it! Good luck saving Monday, parents of the world. You're superheroes, don't you forget it!
(Image: How To Build an Indoor Fort)
Weekend DIYs: 10 Wood Molding Projects for the Home
Monica & Austin's Charming Bungalow
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Ercol Bar Stool
True Greek Recipe: Paximadi Bread Salad with Tomatoes, Feta and Capers
True Greek Recipe: Paximadi Bread Salad with Tomatoes, Feta and Capers
That's a fabulous fort in the photograph!! I was startled for a split second when my first definition of "torch" was the more-U.S. one, as in open flame, and not the more-British definition, flashlight. I'm feeling much better now, thank you.
The bath one made my chuckle. My 11 month old has dozens of fun bath toys. Her favorite? A plastic bowl.
Never hurts to add pink shiny fabrics to your little girl's indoor fort, or castle, or whatever it is. I bought a bunch on ebay.
Every one of my Mondays needs a pick me up. But I have to go to work anyway.
not the right site of complaint. it's your spouse who needs pick me up as he/she goes to face a stress of everyday work - again
I second that, nato. Should have guessed by the cover picture...but the problems that this post tries to solve are not my problems at all...
"it's your spouse who needs pick me up as he/she goes to face a stress of everyday work - again"
Now there's an open can of worms if I ever did see one.
You can't say you weren't warned....
I think there's reason for every parent to need a pick me up, and this is not to say that stay at home parents can't also feel down, but I imagine being a stay at home parent offers more free time and personal time than being in an office every day does.
Personal time? Free time? What are these things you speak of?
I've worked in an office, I've worked from home and I've been a stay at home parent. That commute that used to suck so bad? Yea. An hour where I could hyperfocus on anything without having to be interrupted, even if it was driving and song lyrics that I was focusing on sounds awesome. That uncomfortable poop that I used to take in the office bathroom praying someone wouldn't come in? Yeah, I haven't defecated alone in 3 years. There is either someone crawling up my leg, screaming from the living room, or screaming and crawling up my leg.
I love, love, love staying home. But it isn't all roses and kittens. I don't have an inch of personal time with a nursing baby and a toddler. The only time I sit all day is to nurse the baby and I'm either shushing the toddler, responding to phone calls, or yelling because she's biting or he's ripped his pants off and is rubbing his crack on my curtains. Yeah. . . really.
I had the most insanely stressful job before and I much prefer staying home with my kids. However, and this is the thing that really gets me sometimes because I'm an introvert, I can't call it quits at 5. Or 6. Or ever. I have to really carve out time to do anything but care for my family because they are 24/7 at this point being so small.
Ugh. This sounded so Problem That Has No Name. Haha. I didn't mean it to take that route, but what the hey.
I could just hug CelloSoSweet.... now I have to go back to eating my bon bon's because apparently I have no stress and all the free time in the world... and never need a break
I think we all agree that working full-time can be stressful, and that staying home full-time with young children can be just as stressful. What surprised me (and apparently other readers) in this post is that it seemed to assume that all readers are doing the latter. It took me a sec to figure out what kind of Monday we were out to save.
This said, good ideas. I am not a stay-at-home mom, but have school vacations off and a husband who doesn't. I think we'll try to save Tuesday with the picnic idea. Thanks.
CelloSoSweet, I couldn't agree more with everything you said, but especially the part about pooping. Sometimes I resent my husband if he comes home and gets to go to the bathroom right away when I haven't been able to squeeze that luxury into my day yet.
Yes, work was stressful, but I too miss the commute which enabled me to be alone with my thoughts for two seconds. Or, in my case, 20 precious minutes without someone screaming, whining, or needing something. And I miss the positive feedback that came from a job well done. The challenges at work were usually expected and I could draw on my previous experience to tackle them. These days, the stress is high because the job of raising kids is the most important one I'll ever do, but I have absolutely no training. So I'm making it up each day. (I hate that feeling.) And it's not like my toddler or baby ever look at me and say, "Good job today, Mom!" You really handled that simultaneous tantrum and poopsplostion with grace.
With all that said, I do feel very lucky to have the opportunity to stay home. But no, it is not roses and kittens and bon bons.
What stay at home parents seem to forget is that after a work day, after leaving the office or what have you and commute home probably dealing with gridlocks which are amazingly fun. They pick up the kids and the day isn't over. All the pesky day to day tasks are still there waiting, the laundry, the meal planning and meal cooking, etc. And in all this grand day they need to squeeze in time to be with their children to laugh and play to do something anything that will take the pain and guilt to having to leave them all day with strangers in order to provide for them.
Not every post is intended to be relevant to every reader. But all posts on AT are written as though they might be. It's how journalism works. You are certainly invited to move on to another post if you don't find the content valuable or useful.
Also, it's not a contest about whose life is more stressful. It's just a post with fun stuff for stay-at-home parents to do.
Ah, Mommy Wars...I dream of the day we'll stop fighting them. :)
CelloSoSweet - hiiiiilarious! And dead-on. I only have one, but I work from home. When he's not in day care, there are definitely moments of, "What on earth made you think it would be a great idea to pull all the tape off the roll and stick it to everything?" But you said it funnier. Rubbing their cracks on stuff ... totally happens.
Hey guys who are all up-in-arms: "Save Your Monday" is just the title. It could easily have read "Stay Sane on a Snow Day" or "Finish Your Friday Right" or "Banish Boredom." And everyone knows that going to work can be stressful and exhausting, but if you're the one staying home with a couple of kids, it starts to sound like vacation. When my son was a few months old, I worked a few shifts at my old workplace. HEAVEN.
My husband and I are fortunate to have both been stay-at-home at times and full-time in the office at times...now we both say that whichever of us is going into the office has the day "off." The only part I found harder about going to the office was what Moriko mentioned - the guilt of going to work and not being with the little one, especially when he begged me not to go to work.
Well said, panta. The grass always appears greener on the other side. Walking a mile or so in another's shoes is a real eye-opener. Sometimes going in to the office is a much deserved reprieve - provided one can put the guilt feelings on hold for a few hours. - not an easy task..