Yeah girl, me too. I don’t know many (or any!) people who can honestly say they love Mondays…and especially Monday mornings! While I will forever be #teamweekend, I have found several strategies that have served my family well to take each Monday from hardly bearable to a day we look forward to. Manage your Monday blues with these 5 tips that have served me and my family well!
Are you Team Monday?
Sunday Night Prep
Take a little extra effort Sunday night to prep your house for Monday morning.
For me that means having a clean, put away kitchen. It’s also strangely therapeutic for me to mop the floors Sunday evenings. There’s just something about coming downstairs in the morning to a clean space that puts me in a great mood!
Do you drink tea or coffee each morning? Set out a mug with a tea bag already in it or set up your coffee maker Sunday night so that it’s all ready to go Monday morning. It’s a small step, but one you will appreciate all sleepy-eyed on Monday.
Another tip: make sure you’ve meal planned for the week! I meal plan for two weeks at a time, and Sunday is my time to make sure I have what I need for the meals ahead. This way, when 4:30 pm hits on Monday, I’m not taken by surprise and know exactly what I’m going to make.
Make A Special Breakfast
No, you don’t want to be covered in batter and flipping pancakes at 7:45 while also wrangling kids to brush hair and get dressed. Have an easy go-to breakfast that is special for Mondays. If you go grocery shopping on the weekends, maybe you could get in the habit of purchasing special muffins to have just for Monday mornings. Or try a make ahead breakfast bake – my favorite! Go sweet with a French toast casserole or savory with a hash brown egg bake. The key is making kids (and you!) feel like waking up on Mondays are something to look forward to.
A make-ahead breakfast casserole for Mondays can make the day feel extra special. Photo by Taylor Kiser on Unsplash
Monday Uniform
If you know about Kendra Adachi, aka The Lazy Genius, you’ll know one of her tips for starting her week of on the right foot is by using her “Monday Uniform”. This is a simple, go-to outfit for every Monday. The rationale behind this is that, quite simply, it takes away the annoyance and even stress of wondering what to wear on Monday mornings. You start the week knowing exactly what you’ll put on, and that in itself is a bit of comfort. I’ve been trying this myself for a few months now and highly recommend the practice. In her book she also explains how she shifts the uniform to be seasonally appropriate. Highly recommend this practice to start each Monday off with a bit of ease!
Set The Tone With A Reading
In my family, we also read a devotional Monday mornings with our Bible verse of the week. My girls are always excited to read their new verse and discuss what it means to them. If your family doesn’t follow a faith tradition, you could also use a book of poetry or inspirational quotes to help set the tone for the day and the week ahead!
Create Special Monday Traditions
Incorporating other Monday traditions help make the day one to look forward to instead of dread. Maybe you have a standing family game night and play a game before bed each Monday. Perhaps it’s a night where you FaceTime grandparents or another relative for story time. You could have a specific dessert reserved just for Mondays. It doesn’t have to be anything extravagant at all to make the day a little more special.
Tell me, what are some things you and your family do to beat the Monday blues?
The thoughts presented in this Earth Day volunteer activities with children article are the writer’s and do not represent views of the organizations they...
