The Best Weekends

The best weekend for me is a trashed countertop by Sunday.

Because I haven’t had time to put it all away.

The 2 wallets from 3 different bags because I had to switch from dinner and painting, to fishing with my kid the next morning, to a clear bag for the ball game that night.

The exhausted slog through the front door as we drag our overfed and under hydrated carcasses across the threshold from days full of fun and chaos while everyone throws their trash, jackets, water bottles and merch on the counter to head straight to bed, is the best.

The hunt for my debit card and keys on Sunday.

The bowl on the counter full of three different pairs of earrings and bracelets I’ll stare at for a few days until I decide to put them away.

It’s all ok.

I leave the cleaning for Monday. No one likes Monday anyway.

Or Tuesday, Tuesday’s fine too.

I’d rather have evidence of a weekend of core memories made on full display, than a spotless countertop anyway.

It takes the mundane out of cleaning on Monday.

And there will be cleaning..

Later.

A Sunday mess is a sign of a few days well spent.

My sister and I came up with a term one night when we were deciding if we should go to a haunted house for Halloween but I had two small children and she just drove two hours to visit me and go out. We were both exhausted before the nigh even began.

We looked at each other and a mutual decision was made.

“We won’t remember being tired, but we will remember the night.”

And that was that. We went. We partied. And we crashed.

There’s never been one date on the calendar that I looked back and said, “Yeah we were too tired for that,” but I can look back at my photos and my countertops and say, “Yeah, we did that!”

The best weekends for me aren’t tidy, or nutritious, or even full of endless energy. The best weekends for me are messy, full of gastrointestinal issues, exhausting, and if done right, take a few days to fully recover.

Spotless countertops are for Friday’s anyway.

So I can rinse and repeat.

If it’s going to be one of the best weekends.