I usually struggle with Sundays. I wake up so happy, with a whole day off ahead of me… but somewhere in the early afternoon that feeling shifts to “oh crap, tomorrow is Monday” and the day no longer feels leisurely.
For a while, it seemed that I could either spend Sunday the way I wanted, i.e. sleeping in, lounging around, reading, getting Starbucks, watching football (gah! I miss football!) but then Mondays were horrible. The house was a mess, laundry not done, no food prep… OR, I could spend Sunday doing chores and errands, which meant the day basically sucked, but I was happy on Monday morning.
Recently I’ve hit on a nice compromise, which mixes work and pleasure. I mean, duh- that was the obvious solution all along, but I’ve come up with a kind of formula for Sunday success.
Whenever possible, I’ll sleep in till 9 am on a Sunday. Today, the cats woke me up at 8:22, but that was late enough. After yesterday’s workout fail, I was determined to get in an Iron Series workout before I did anything else, so that’s what I did.
THEN, I eat a leisurely breakfast while reading blogs. I also take this time to decide on the night’s dinner (Sunday is often the one night I actually cook) and make a shopping list. Then I head out for errands.
The key is, I make sure there’s at least one totally fun errand in there. Today, I went to Bath and Body Works. I saw they were having a sale where everything was 40% off, and I “needed” a new candle. So I went to the mall, then to the library to return books, then grocery shopping, and THEN I stopped at Starbucks and got a London Fog.
(London Fog is Earl Grey with milk and vanilla. I get mine with almond milk and one pump of the sugar-free vanilla syrup. Normally I don’t put anything in my tea- I just get this as a special treat every once in a while.)
I would have sat in the Starbucks, but it just so happened that no one was home at my house, so I went back home, lit my new candle…
… and settled down with my tea for more blog reading.
Muffin and Foxy joined me!
When I woke up (ha ha, you didn’t think I could sit on the couch with two cats and not drift off to sleep, did you???) there was still plenty of time to throw in a load of laundry and read a little before starting dinner.
One of my other secrets of Sunday success is to make a fun dinner. Tonight it was Vegan Philly Cheesesteaks from Nora Cooks.
It’s supposed to be on a hoagie roll, but I used a Hero tortilla for mine.
At night I tidy up and finish the laundry. Is the house perfectly clean? No, but at least it smells good from that candle! I’m still a little bummed that the weekend is ending (I mean, who isn’t?) but I had a nice day.
Do you enjoy your Sundays?- Notice that this Sunday involved NO child care! That makes a big difference.
Top photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
24 Responses
My daughter calls it the ‘Sunday Scaries’, where you’re half way through a lovely day and realize the entire week is ahead of you and coming fast. And for her it’s such a gentle re-entry. She works from home on Mondays, and if there are chores that need to be done, she can do them during her week day, she can get them done.
I’m curious about division of labor when I hear about days like this. I always wonder about how much work women put in vs. men, and how much work could be taken on by the teens in the house. I grew up in a house with a singe mom, where my brother and I were expected to cook, clean, and do laundry. I admit freely that I have not done great about expecting the same from my husband and daughter. My husband is great about doing his share, and did more than me when he was home more than I was. But once I started working from home, I think I took on more than my share. My daughter has grown into it, but when she was in High School…not so much. So I’m not judging if things aren’t equitably distributed in your house (and maybe they are, I don’t know) but I’m always interested in this conversation and how we can make it better.
Great questions. My daughter does… practically nothing. WE ARE WORKING ON IT. My husband is coming around- he does his own laundry, and on nights where I don’t cook (i.e. most nights) he knows he’s making his own dinner. I think he and my daughter are practically blind when it comes to a messy house though. I’ll say “can you help me clean up?” and they’ll look at me blankly and ask what I want them to do- meanwhile the house is practically filled with trash. DO YOU NOT SEE THIS MESS??? Sigh…
You captured a lot of my Sunday feelings in this post. I am often frustrated by how much is left undone on Sunday night. I like your plan. I love to watch CBS Sunday Morning and drink my coffee – it means getting up a little early (it starts at 7 am), but I can’t really remember the last time I was able to sleep in unless I am (1) sick or (2) up past 1 am. So, it is not a problem for me. I also often will do a grocery order and go pick it up (it saves me money not to go shopping in the store). I did do some laundry and remade my bed today. I vacuumed the living room and couch (so much dog and cat hair – ugh). I also did over 10,000 steps again today!
I enjoy all weekend days, probably Sunday the least because Monday comes next. but overall I like to do things to prepare for the week (mostly cooking/freezing) on Saturday so Sunday is total free day.
love your cats staying with you when you read/relax. mine will come by and sleep besides me, but never on me.
You somehow manage to have a great balance of relaxing and productive weekends. When I read your weekend posts I almost feel like you have extra hours in your days (how do you do that???)
Sylvie will sleep beside me or not on me, but Muffin sleeps right on top of me. And she’s heavy!
Sundays can be rough, Jenny. My worst year of school (fifth grade), I could NOT get to sleep on Sunday nights because I was so anxious about the coming week. Ugh. Sometimes my kiddo has rough Sundays, too. I love that you’ve hit on a good balance between prep work and leisure. And a nap with cats makes ANY day better!
I wish there was some way to just enjoy the day! If I could just be present and not let my mind jump ahead… but it’s so hard.
Yesterday Rob and I planted our big flower containers, which is such a fun thing to do! Everything is blooming, I am happy.
I’ll bet you’re happy, Nicole! This is your favorite time!
I guess I think Friday and Saturday as the “weekend” and Sunday as the “week start” and once I reframed it like that, doing all the chores and stuff is just what I need to do on Sunday to make the rest of the week sail smoothly. Sunday is laundry day. I baked up a storm yesterday – made granola, sweet potatoes for the dog, and cookies for a friend. I also get the house organized (vacuum, dust) and try to do any errands that I can that will make the rest of the week easier. The idea is that if I do all that on Sunday, I don’t have to remember things like “pick up grapes” later in the week. But reframing Sunday as the start of the work week has made things better for me personally.
Yes, I can totally see how that would work. The problem is… I work Saturday mornings. So my “weekend” starts Saturday afternoon. It’s fine because I don’t work Wednesdays… I have a weird schedule. Maybe I’m hoping for too much from the weekends.
I remember so well those frantic weekends when I was still working. Saturday became a huge chore day, and Sunday was all about grading papers and trying to have some family time, too. I love your solutions, especially making sure there’s a fun errand in there. WHERE WAS THIS ADVICE ABOUT 20 YEARS AGO!?
Sigh. I already know. Gosh, I’m old.
Ha, you’re not old- at least not much older than I am! I’m doing everything late in life so I still have a teenager at home and no hope of retirement in sight. It sounds like your weekends were way harder than mine, so I should stop complaining : )
Sunday Scaries are so a thing… I like to schedule as little as possible for Monday, so I don’t feel overwhelmed. And your idea of throwing in a fun errand or two in there sounds perfect!
A new candle, kitties, and a nap–that was a present that arranged itself perfectly!
Yes, it was a really nice interlude in the day! I’m still not sure I’ve solved the Sunday Scaries, but I’m trying.
I feel similarly on Sundays! Usually I spend most of Saturday running and recovering from the run which is fun, then Sunday is my rest day but if I’m home, I have to get groceries and usually do laundry and cleaning, and if I’m visiting my parents, I have to drive home two hours in the afternoon which isn’t so fun. Fortunately this weekend, I don’t have to do either of those since I’m off this whole week for my big race so I was mostly able to relax, but also got together my drop bags so it was a good mix of fun and productive!
I AM SO EXCITED FOR YOU!!! Drop bags! A big race!!! It’s so fun and exciting. I’m glad you have the whole week off.
Well, we say TGIM in our house! But weekends are pretty tiring with lots of parenting and breaking up sibling squabbles and such. This past weekend was pretty good, though, as it was really nice out both days so we were out of the house a lot. But we are still very tired by the end of the day on Sunday. Phil got a lot of chores done while I took the boys to the zoo on Saturday, like cleaning out his car/washing the disgustingly dirty floor matts and cleaning the bathrooms. He really knows how to have a good time. 😉 And there is always so much folding of laundry on the weekend. Sigh.
I know, Lisa, and I really shouldn’t complain! My weekends are SO easy not that the kids are big. You guys must be totally exhausted by Sunday night. TGIM, lol.
totally get it. I usually have some flexibility on Mondays so that has me less freaked out, but there are things that NEED to happen (the Board, meal planning, etc) or I feel like the week just goes down hill from there. But I’ve embraced social Sundays – nice night to see family or do low key friend outing (book club) !
It’s also the kids- they have various school activities and you have to be all ready to go for all of that. But- it sounds like you make it work. Social Sundays sounds fun!
Love this! I have struggled some in the last ~year or so to get in a groove on the weekends now that the boys are older. We used to have so much built in structure with running them places and activities. But now that there’s often pretty OPEN space, I weirdly flounder around many weekends! I still don’t feel like I have it fully figured out. I often feel like I have very many things I “need to do” and an equally long list of things I “want to do” and I can struggle to sort out what to do to fit a balance in. Anyway, it feels silly to even say that, because in theory it’s all SO much easier now with older kids!! But it’s an adjustment, I guess, is what I’m saying! 🙂
Yes, I do know what you mean. Open space is never truly “open” when you own a house- there’s ALWAYS something you could or should be doing. Things aren’t necessarily easy, but they are more simple when the kids’ activities dictate your weekends.
I don’t typically have the Sunday scaries, but I do feel like I need to make my Sundays VERY productive. It’s harder when it’s football season because I’m away from my apartment for the whole day!
My main issue is grocery shopping. I hate it and get so lazy on the weekends about going to the store. I meant to go this afternoon after my Mother’s Day plans, but then I was tired so I went home and took a nap. Oops!