4 Ways to Thrive Instead of Survive on the Weekend

Ah, the weekend! Two glorious days off full of sleeping in, eating brunch, and watching football. What, your weekends don’t look like that? Ya, mine either . . . at least not anymore. These days it seems like the weekends are the perfect opportunity for arguments, bad attitudes, and hurt feelings. Think about it. Everyone is home all day for two whole days! It’s the perfect storm.

Last year, I noticed a trend of frustration amongst my family that was specific to the weekends. I think all five family members contributed to the frustration, but I realized that I was the main culprit. Have you ever noticed how momma’s attitude can affect everyone else’s? I had high expectations, little communication, and I was anything but flexible. Thankfully, the Lord revealed my faults. And over the past year, my husband and I have been working on ways to make our weekends actually enjoyable and something we look forward to.

Instead of two days off with no responsibilities, I’ve started looking at the weekend as my two days on call. The weekends aren’t a chance for me to catch up on sleep or chores or Instagram, but a chance for me to serve and love on my family.

So here are a few things I’ve been doing that have helped me not only survive but thrive on the weekends:

Prep and Plan

I bet that most people try to take a little time on Sunday afternoon to plan their week or at least pack a bag and wash some clothes for Monday morning. I’ve started doing the same thing sometime on Thursday or Friday. I look at our weekend plans. I wash the appropriate clothes, and I do a little cleaning. Also, I try to do any kind of prep that might make our time together as a family a little more enjoyable over the weekend. I want zero distractions so that I can chat with my husband over coffee on Saturday morning and play a game with my daughter Sunday afternoon. A little planning and some prepping help me be more present with my family over the weekend.

Buy Too Much Food

Since all the people are home all day long over the weekend, you need to be prepared. Prepare your mind, prepare your heart, and stock your fridge!

I used to do all our grocery shopping on Mondays. We would have good meals throughout the week, but once the weekend rolled around, we were out of food and I was out of ideas. We would end up eating out a lot, and it killed our budget and our stomachs!

I do most of our grocery shopping on Wednesdays now and I try to plan six meals over the weekend: breakfast, lunch, and dinner for both Saturday and Sunday. And if we do end up spontaneously going out for a meal, I’ll save those meals that we didn’t use for the upcoming week or for my husband to take to work for his lunch. And isn’t it so much more fun to go out to eat as a treat rather than because you didn’t have any other choice?

Having extra food around the house is also more conducive to people stopping by or inviting a family over after church.

Go with the Flow

On one hand, prepping and planning are key, but also staying flexible and going with the flow is super important too. Like I said earlier, I try to plan all our meals. But I also realize that my husband might take one of the kids out for lunch. Instead of being upset that not everyone was around to eat the meal I made, I make sure I plan easy meals and assume I’ll have to regroup throughout the weekend. 

Communicate

Even more important than food and prepping and planning is communicating with your spouse and your kids if they are old enough. If there is something that you have to get done over the weekend, let your people know! My husband has told me several times that he’d like to love on me but that he’s not a mind reader. So, if you are feeling desperate for a nap on Saturday afternoon, make sure you let your husband know so that you can all make that a priority. He can’t read minds and you can’t either. So ask him what he’s expecting from the weekend too!

Weekends shouldn’t be a time of frustration, but a time to relax and enjoy your family. After all, you only have so many of them before kids start moving away. When that happens, you’ll miss those two full days with all your people home. What can you do this weekend to make it more enjoyable?

Originally published July 2019.