A friend of our family told me about a great idea she did with her kids every week: together they would choose a “project”, which could be a person, organization or (I think) even an animal; every Monday they would do something special to help make life better in some way for that “project”. I thought it was brilliant! It could be anything they decided. It was something that was beneficial to the community, something that brought her family together and something that gave her kids a positive lesson in citizenship. I’m not sure if I have described her idea completely accurately, but the general concept is crystal clear. And I decided we should do something similar in our household. The only thing was, I couldn’t remember what she called it. It was something to do with Mondays. Was it “Magic Mondays”? “Meaningful Mondays”? I’m a details guy and this started to drive me nuts. Which eventually led me to “Madness Mondays”. I decided for one evening a week, every Monday, our kids would get to do whatever they wanted. Within reason, for safety, they wouldn’t hear “No”, or “Stop That”, or “Don’t”. The idea was to give us all a once-a-week break from what, at the time, seemed to be a daily struggle with grumpy moods and getting into trouble- especially around dinner, bath and bedtime. I know, I know- not quite the heart-warming initiative as doing something special for a “project” in the community. But, you’ve gotta start somewhere! I felt this was what we needed. Not surprisingly, the kids were in agreement. Of course, I think it was the treatment, as opposed to the symptoms, with which they were in accord. For the first few weeks, they watched a lot of TV, played on my laptop (which was never permitted otherwise), ate junk (before dinner), ordered in for dinner, and stayed up waaaay past their bedtime. My wife, Julie, wasn’t so thrilled with coming home from work and finding three kids only half asleep at 10pm on a school night. But, this was my plan for Mondays when she was out of the house and I was sticking to it. As you’ve probably figured out by now, “Madness Mondays” was as much for me as the kids. I was finding it much more pleasant not to be barking orders and losing my temper. My hope was that it would spread some “family goodwill” throughout the rest of the week and translate into a more peaceful coexistence. In recent weeks, due to pressure from external forces, I have shaved off the limitless bedtime and re-introduced the mandatory bath. Then, last Monday- much to my chagrin- there was whining and attitude and I found myself barking and losing my temper- despite it being the weekly holiday. I’m not sure if it was the restrictions I added, or if it’s wearing off its welcome, but “Madness Mondays” is now under the microscope. I’m concerned that if we can’t make this successful, we’ll never be able to work our way up to the loftier, weekly ambition- “Mission Mondays”. That is the name of the great idea I stole from, from our friend, Robynn Munnings. I had to finally ask her for the name, since it never came back to me. Anyway, she’s also a photographer and took some wonderful photos of our kids that make it look like every day is “Madness Monday” in our house. Hopefully, we’ll get back on track tomorrow. Julie is at work and I’m expecting (all of us) to be awake when she gets home.
www.adamgrowe.com
www.robynnmunnings.com