The Monday Tradition I Have With My Teens

Like a lot of people, I’ve always dreaded Mondays. It started in high school and has followed me along my adulthood. Even though I love my job and feel incredibly fulfilled, there’s something really hard about saying goodbye to a relaxing weekend and doing all the things to get ready for the week ahead.

One night a few years ago, I was lying on the sofa after the kids were in bed on a Sunday night wondering how I was going to get us all through another busy week. I realized we needed a break in all the scheduled madness and if I didn’t make it happen, we were’t going to get it.

I decided that Monday would be the perfect day to get the kids at school then go get a treat afterwards. It wasn’t a huge plan, but it made all the difference to my family.

When the kids woke up that next morning, dreading school, they perked up after I told them we’d be getting a donut and hot chocolate post-school. The following Monday morning they asked if we could do it again and we did. That was the start of a tradition that we all look forward to every week.

It’s so doable and is great bonding time. Even though it’s short, it does the trick. Honestly, it’s probably all the bonding my teenagers can handle on a Monday afternoon anyway. I look forward to it, too. Not only do I get to enjoy a huge Diet Coke, I know I have some extra time with my babies before they retire to their rooms and do homework when they get home. We often pick different places to go depending on what we’re craving, and it’s easy enough to move our tradition to a different day is something comes up.

Our little tradition means the world to me. Life really is about the small moments that happen in between living life. And taking this small amount of time to designate solely to my teens on Monday afternoons will always be one of my favorite traditions.