Saturday Morning Sip N’ Share: Monotony

For this Saturday’s sip n’ share there is no better word to use than…..monotony. What a gray, dull, rainy week it has been! As I write this the sky is gray, the windows are damp with drops of leftover rain, and a threat of more showers lingers for the day. It has been rainy ALL WEEK and I am so over it. I’m pretty sure my girls are, too.

Got a comfy spot? Great! Did you get your coffee/tea/water yet? If not, go get yourself some. Let’s get cozy, and let’s get chatting. I’m so glad that you’re here with me on this Saturday morning!

Rain, Rain Go Away

The rain this week has been exhausting. When you have two small kids under 10, it’s almost torture to have to keep them in the house for that many days in a row. Fortunately, the rain is supposed to go away for the weekend. But don’t be fooled…it’ll be back again soon.

My kids are not great at entertaining themselves. On rainy days I could probably count at least 15 times where they come up to me and say “I’m bored.” We have a house full of toys, games, puzzles and craft items, and yet they are always “bored.” It drives me nuts.

Rainy weeks end up becoming monotonous days filled with the same ol’ things over and over. Tablet time becomes way too plentiful and fights between the girls happen way more often than they should. As much as I love a good rainy, stormy day, the monotony of rainy weeks is just down right dreadful.

A Mental Health Check In

We’ve all heard of seasonal depression. But after this week I wonder if there is such a thing as rainy weather depression. My depression was fine this past week, but I did notice some change. It was as if the gloom and doom outside was trying to make its way inside of our house and into my brain.

Some weeks I am super motivated and full of ambition, hope and big dreams. But this week I could feel the “ick” of self-doubt and dread trying to creep it’s way back in. When I get that feeling, I’ve learned to push through it. It is an amazing thing to be self-aware and to know when my body is responding in an unusual way. But to get to that point of self-awareness takes time, patience and practice. And it takes individual action.

To those of you that have found yourself in the same situation…what do you do when you feel the “ick” creeping in? Do you act on it in a positive way? Do you hide from it? I can tell you that I fight mine. This week when I felt those feelings pushing their way back in, I changed the tone from negative to positive. In the times where I found myself sitting and waiting (like while the girls were in tae kwon do), I made it a point to set goals, make plans, and change my mind’s tone.

Just because I don’t talk about mental health and stress in every post doesn’t mean that it’s gone and never seen again. It’s something that I deal with every day. My kids deal with it every day, too.

The Monotony of Travel

My husband travels a lot for work, especially as of late. Sometimes he’s only gone overnight, sometimes it’s for more than one night. One reason I decided to make the word for this week’s sip n’ share “monotony” is for the reason that, when my husband is gone, each day just feels the same. We wake up, I do everything for the girls on my own, we go to sleep, and then we repeat the next day. It’s not that it’s harder. It’s just…more.

Year ago when I worked as a food and beverage manager, one of my bosses made a comment along the lines of, “We shouldn’t be doing the minimum to just get through the summer. We should be pushing to excel throughout the summer.” While I learned a lot from that job, that is one piece of advice that I never forgot. Weeks like this past one I felt like I was just getting through to survive…I wasn’t trying to excel and make every day wonderful. I just needed to get through them.

I have learned a few tricks and things along the way to make his traveling season a bit easier on me. We don’t always follow strict bed times. When he’s travelling I try to order takeout at least once to so that I don’t always have to cook on top of everything else. We also have sleepovers in the living room when he’s out of town. And on the nights when we’re not having sleepovers I let myself stay up late and watch shows that I wouldn’t normally watch when he’s at home. Side note: If you haven’t watched “The Great” on Hulu then you totally should.

If you’ve ever had a spouse that travelled for work I’d love to hear what tips and tricks you developed over the years!

Wrapping Up Another Sip N’ Share

That’s it for this week’s sip n’ share: monotony! I look forward to next week and all of the adventures to be had. This Mama is dying to get out of the house and explore after being stuck at home for a week.

How was your week? Did the rain put a damper on your plans? Let me know all of the highs and the lows in the comments below!

-Meg