Enjoying Monday thru Friday

I found this article some years ago and it's still one of my favorites.
From the Homeliving.blogspot


Note: Being home gives me time to prepare for the week-end home-coming of those who work during the week. It may mean I do not have extra money to spend, but it gives me a chance to be resourceful and learn how to make-do. For the most part, that lovely week-day experience gives me a calmness and peace of mind, knowing that I am able to get my work finished and prepare for a leisurely week-end. The homemaker knows she is the servant of all, but she also has many rewards for this. It is a sacrifice but it is also a joy to serve others by being at home.

I'm thankful that it is soon to be Monday! It is interesting how those who have to fight the traffic every day and go through the week days working for other people, will breathe a sigh of relief when Friday comes. They want to relax on weekends and feel the freedom. At home all week, I personally find Monday through Friday more free and quiet than the weekends. I am sure many full time homemakers are discovering this. On week-ends, it seems the whole world is out doing its shopping. The recreation spots are crowded. The lines are longer. The restaurants have waiting lists. The noise and movement, even in the country escalates. The work at home can sometimes increase on weekends, as families, in a rush to mow their grass and do necessary home-keeping, rush about to get it all finished before they have to leave again on Monday.

In many ways, it is the opposite for the home-body. Most of us enjoy that peaceful quiet of Monday through Friday at home. If we have to go out, the post office and the stores are not crowded. The traffic is less. If more women, especially those with children, could be home during the week, it would cut the traffic problem and the week-end rush problem in half. I leave the week-ends for the people who work outside the home. I don't even try to compete. I wait til Monday to go out. I do not need to take up space on the roads and in the shops on week-ends when such a huge population of people must be about their essential shopping and trade.

At home, Monday through Friday can be the most exquisitely beautiful days of the week. Every day is like Sunday. We dress up as we wish, get our work done and have someone over for tea. We write letters, and even write stories for children. Even ironing can be a glorious task, as we put the ironing board in front of a window with a view. The smell of the steam on my husband's shirts bring back so many memories of golden days growing up in an unhurried home, with my mother contentedly ironing her family's clothes. (Remember, every thing had to be ironed in those days, so it was a major event during the week. No one would have worn anything wrinkled and was it ever wrinkled!)

On week days the cooking is unhurried. We have time to enjoy every minute of the process. Dinner is ready and the table is set. There is time to enjoy the preparation of things, even time to get a shower and freshen up and change clothes for dinner, yet the homemaker is in no particular hurry.

If there is a grunge job or two, or some seriously heavy cleaning and moving to be done, it is softened by the sweetness of the day. Women who used to sit in offices or work in institutions have expressed their desire to find out what those moments would be like if spent at home. Now, many of them are experiencing the exquisite beauty of the home during the day. Now at home, we can spend the week days in preparation for the week's end retreat to give rest and renewal to those who do not have that week-day revival at home.

Monday through Friday, we can sew and clean to our heart's content. We can choose the noise we like: our favorite music or the birds singing outside. We are free to come and go as we wish. We are not tied down or isolated, as many people suppose. The best kept secret is that Monday through Friday at home are celebrated days. Others may grimly get through the week, anxiously looking forward to the relief of the week-ends, but I, I say "Thank God, it is Monday."

It is a wonderful feeling to get the home ready for the week-enders who so desperately need to have time free from pressure. It is great to have the laundry caught up during the week and everything cleaned up so the men can come home and finally enjoy what they have worked all week for. It brings a sense of peace to know that they are being served and helped by the women being home taking care of the things they cannot do during the week. Monday is the starting point for the week-end that will give the workers their rest. Women at home provide this wonderful experience, but it takes Monday through Friday, five days of determined effort, to have the perfect week end. During that time, there are so many perks, so many sweet moments and so many flashes of creativity. For us, it is a great responsibility to be at home, but the freedom of being there Monday to Friday is worth the hard work.