serenity now
I'm familiar with the Sunday night blues--especially after a vacation such as this (everyone I live with is coming off of a two-week Christmas vacation), but can I just say this: it's time! It's time for my kids to not see each other 24 hours a day. It's time for them to stop asking if they can make ice cream, a movie, and a tree fort (I finally told Greg No!). It's time for them to stop arguing continuously. And it's time for all of us to get back into some semblance of a routine.
We had a good vacation (I would like to point out that I still worked, but whatever), saw lots and lots of family, ate lots and lots of food, and somehow all 4 of us have gotten into a habit of sleeping in until 10am and staying up until midnight. Six-thirty tomorrow morning will not be fun. But we, as humans, it turns out, need some purpose in life (other than watching Fixer Upper and driving our loved ones crazy). Even Greg (who has never been bored a day in his life and has enough to keep him busy for the next 3 years), I think, deep-down, is ready to go back to school. No? Perhaps If he hadn't spent the first few days of vacation grading exams, and the middle seven days feeling like he was hit by a truck, he might be. But I know for a fact our kids' laziness has gotten to him too, because this afternoon he announced a "screen-time Sabbath"––and then went and took a nap leaving me with our stunned, crying children. So I went to take a nap too. But Elia kept popping her head into our room mouthing the words, "Just one show?"
Anyhow, here are my best tips for dealing with Sunday Night Blues:
Get outside, or at the very least, get your family outside. Check--Greg just took the girls out to skate on the ice.
Make a good meal. Easy for you to say! No, I'm actually going to make some Chicken Korma tonight!
Set a time to do something fun with your (or another) family--a game, read a book, or thaw out the TV freeze long enough for a two-hour movie and some popcorn. Greg and I just told the girls they can watch a Hallmark movie after we pick up our international students from the airport.
Cuddle with your puppy. Doing it right now.
Still feeling down? Remember that tomorrow, if only for a brief amount of time, you'll have the house to yourself again, and you can survey the damage done by the parties, sleepovers, day-long snacking, and constant wardrobe changes from the past 14 days, and you can finally cry to yourself in peace.
At about 1:45 this morning, I was watching Jerry Seinfeld's Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, and guest Julia Louis Dreyfus said that her mom advised that everyone needs something to look forward to--whether big or small. This is not only true, it's also good advice, and it ties into my "serenity now" title so neatly (Seinfeld theme).
So, here's to a year of Mondays, things to look forward to, and getting our kids the freak back to school!