How I Survive Mondays

Monday mornings normally dawn with my house in disarray, my eyelids heavy, and my kids grouchy.  I love Sundays, but they can take a little bit of a toll on my house.  My husband and I try to get up early enough to have breakfast together as a family, get ourselves and three little ones dressed for church, and leave early enough to make sure our responsibilities as Sunday School director and pianist respectively are taken care of.  In our wake is normally a trail of pajamas, outfits that didn't work out, dirty breakfast dishes, and miscellaneous articles the kids got out behind our backs.  We come home to a quick lunch, determined to straighten up before naptime, but end up crashing and leaving even more dishes to be done.  After a short nap, we all get ready again for choir practice and evening service.  After the service we usually spend time fellowshipping and/or practicing music.  On our way home we often swing by the store to pick up bread or milk for the week.  By the time we get home it's getting late and there are hungry mouths to feed, little clothes to change, and a mess that is still staring at me as I add yet more dishes to the pile.  Any notions I may have had about cleaning up before bed are quickly fleeing as my eyelids struggle to remain open.

Monday arrives with my engine struggling to start, but I know I've got to get things under control as soon as possible.

So here's what I do.

I start in the easiest room, which is usually the bedroom.  I set a timer for 5 minutes and start straightening up as fast as I can.  I get the kids involved and send them on errands.  "Go put this in the trash can.  Hurry!  Put this in the hamper.  We have to get done before the timer dings!"  They enjoy racing the timer, and it definitely helps me go faster too.  By starting in the easiest room I get to see immediate progress which encourages me to keep at it.  When the timer dings I move on to the next room.  I spend five minutes in each room, and I am usually surprised to find that every room gets clean in that amount of time.  The kitchen usually takes longer, but it doesn't bother me too much because the rest of the house is already clean by then!

In less than an hour my house goes from looking well nigh hopeless to completely clean!  It's definitely an encouraging way to start off my week. When I try things any other way I end up discouraged and walking around in circles.   

So that's how Mondays usually start at my house.

How do you survive Mondays?  Do you have any tips we should know about?  Please, leave a comment!




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