Stare at the Walls Monday

When I was younger, let’s just say I was in the early married stage with a few little ones in my nest, my brothers latched onto a funny phrase from something my mother did.  It was...”Stare at the walls Monday”.  You see, my wonderful Mother had this love/hate relationship with Mondays.  She just had a hard time getting it in gear on Mondays and would often just piddle around in her jammies and shuffle around in her slippers.  She really was an incredible woman who could do amazing things and was an extremely successful mother but, Monday just wasn’t her most productive day.  Breakfast was eaten around two in the afternoon (which consisted of grapes and air, but that’s a whole other story!) and she always said she just needed to stare at the walls and do nothing, hence the name, “Stare at the Walls Monday.”  The Sunday dishes from the big feast on Sunday were still stacked on the counter waiting to be hand washed and the Sunday paper was generally sprawled open on the kitchen table as if blown about  from a ravaging storm.  If you arrived for an impromptu visit in the afternoon and asked what Mom did that day you would most likely receive the answer, “Oh, I’ve just been staring at the walls.”

In my high energy, cookoo phase of life I had a hard time understanding the need to do nothing.  Staring at the walls was senseless and a waste of time.  With so much to do I just popped out of bed and started life.  There was no time to waste and much to get accomplished.  I could have half of a room painted by lunchtime and the rest finished by dinnertime.  I could have a scrapbook page done every hour and my workout done before it was time for my children’s midmorning snack.  I was an efficient, well-oiled machine.  But alas, I have a new understanding and respect for “Stare at the Walls Monday.  In fact, I have been experiencing it myself more and more often. 

There is something to this Stare at the Walls Monday concept.  It just makes sense.  Sunday is supposed to be our day of rest and it is, don’t get me wrong, but it’s usually a busy day filled with wonderful, inspiring church meetings and then the awesome Sunday dinner with the family which is a highlight of the week for everyone in my nest over here.  I love the family time and the opportunity to serve a wonderful meal around the dining room table and just be together in an intimate setting.  We bond, we eat, and we are a family.  When Monday finally rolls around we need a rest from our day of rest.  What a concept!  So in honor of Stare at the Walls Monday, I am choosing to embrace it.  I slept in, wrote a letter to Dallin, and then promptly crawled back into bed that was calling to me.  It’s now 1:26 pm and yes, I am still in my jammies!  I guess it’s time to eat some lunch or I guess breakfast, head to the gym for a workout, get some laundry started, do the Sunday dishes and then of course, stare at the walls some more!