The truth about retail is that the hours suck. When you work
at a store that is open seven days a week, your “weekends” are never
traditional. Ask anyone that works retail and they will agree with you. It’s
not a secret, it’s just a fact.
Last Tuesday was my Saturday. Minus the sleeping in part
because I had to take my kids to school. Minus the slow morning where we lazed
in our pajamas. Minus the part about spending the day with the kids. Still I
made it my Saturday. I refused a shower. I wore clothes from yesterday that
were miss matched, and then proceeded to sit in the recliner and talk to my
bestie. Then when that was done, I watched Homeland on my DVR which was
amazing. Also did I mention that both kids were in school? So again, it was my
Sunday, but the kind of Sunday where the kids do their own thing.
Mackenzie took a three hour nap after preschool and I filled
that time by laying on the couch flipping between Grays Anatomy (duh) and
Twelve Years a Slave. Twelve Years a Slave was a little heavy, but it was still pretty amaing. I started the laundry, decided that grilled
cheese was a good dinner anywhere, and took a sleepy Mac to pick up Caitlin.
With dirty hair and cutoff shorts.
I just couldn’t do it on Tuesday. I was tired, or more to the point, I was
exhausted. I tried really hard to be productive, but why? Other people laze and
lounge on their weekends. Why having my Saturday, actually be a Tuesday make any
difference? Because it’s still Tuesday and you still have to an adult and do
adult things like pick up and drop off and feed your family. You can’t just
give up and lay in bed all day, which if I’m honest I tried. But days of during
the week are just an entirely different animal.
By the end of the day, Tuesday felt just like any old
regular Tuesday. The kids had to be fed. There was homework to do. We all
needed baths (including me, because well, um). We all had to get to bed at a
decent time, since mom had to be at work at six. Yes. Six in the morning. But
that is just a special schedule because all our Christmas stuff came in last week.
Yes, Christmas stuff.
Retail ain't for sissies, let me tell you. But I knew that
when I signed up. I wasn’t shocked to learn that I’d work most Saturdays and
Sundays. But I won’t lie to you, it’s hard leaving your family on those days.
But when I do get a cherished Saturday or Sunday off, it really pays off. We
may not do something “fun” by definition, but we are changing the definition of
fun. Fun is now going to the grocery store all together, getting lunch
somewhere we wouldn’t normally go, or even getting hair cuts. I’ve learned to
really be in those moments on the weekends when I have them. And when I don’t,
I’ve learned to relax on the Tuesdays and Thursdays. Usually my mid week days
off are jammed packed, but every once in awhile I’ll get a day where I can
relax and pretend that it’s a Saturday.
Like today. It’s Monday and I’m off with
no where to go at the moment. Still I got up at six and got
the kids out of the house by eight. Then we went to dance and Costco. Now I’m
home and writing, and soon I’ll have another kid to pick up. Not a load of
laundry done. Dishes are still in the sink, and who knows what we we will have for
dinner. And of course I rolled out of bed to do all of this. My hair is crazy
and I’ve got bags under my eyes. Maybe I’ll shower before it’s time to get
Caitlin. Maybe I won’t. All I know is that doing the minimum right now feels
good. In fact it feels like a Saturday. Almost.
