What Day Is It?

Laura Nelson offers fun, family-friendly, and prayerful strategies to keep the days from running together.

How many times in the last year have you forgotten what day it was? Many of my friends, family, and colleagues have commented to me that the days all run together since the pandemic changed our lives almost a year ago. I know exactly what they mean. Despite the fact that it’s been years since I had a subscription to the newspaper, I’ve toyed with the idea of subscribing just to get a physical reminder of the day of the week and the date at my doorstep each morning! 

Instead of shelling out the money for a pile of paper that I realistically won’t read, I try to make the days different on my own. Saturday and Sunday are the easiest since they’re framed with days off work and attending Mass in person or via livestream. It’s the work week that gets blurry. Mondays are usually heavy with work. But the only thing that differentiates Tuesday-Friday is the fact that junk mail gets delivered on Tuesdays. 

So, we try to find ways to make the days different by imposing our own rituals and routines on our week. Here are a few ways to make it easier to tell the days apart when you feel like you’re living the movie Groundhog Day: 

• Have fun with alliteration! Meatloaf Monday or Taco Tuesday help give a little rhythm and variety into your life. But it doesn’t have to be food related. How about Call-A-Friend Friday? Or Thankful Thursday, when you write a thank you note or express your gratitude for your blessings in another way?
• Pick one day a week to order takeout from a local restaurant to support the local economy, give yourself a night off from cooking, and have something to look forward to. You can even challenge yourself to try a new place each week to broaden your horizons.
• Schedule your socially distant errands for a day of the week that’s less crowded and make that part of your routine. My husband and I have a “date night” each Thursday night when we do the warehouse store shopping. It’s less crowded on Thursday evenings and we bring home dinner to eat after putting the groceries away. (Granted, it’s not the most romantic “date” but it’s time alone outside of our house so it counts.)
• Start praying the Rosary each day. Because the Mysteries of the Rosary are prayed on different days of the week (Mondays, Joyful; Tuesdays, Sorrowful and so on), it helps you keep track of the day while bringing you closer to Jesus through Mary.
• Immerse yourself in the Church’s Liturgical calendar. Not only do we have seasons in our Church calendar to mark the rhythm of our spiritual journey with Christ, we also have a host of Feast Days and Holy Days to celebrate and observe. With countless saints to celebrate each day of the year, it’s easy to find something to make each day different. (Ex: Today of the feast of the Presentation of the Lord. Consider having quail or cornish game hens for dinner is memory of the two small doves Mary and Joseph offered at the Temple for Jesus.)
• And, if you’re looking for a little (often silly) fun, look up the National Day of the day by going to NationalDayCalendar.com. Not only is today Groundhog Day, it’s also National Tater Tot Day and National Heavenly Hash Day. The National Day website even gives you celebration ideas to help you observe these obscure holidays.

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When the days run together this month, make them interesting in a fun and even prayerful way. #catholicmom

When the days run together this month, make them interesting in a fun and even prayerful way by creating routines, living the rhythm of the Church, and finding creative “holidays” to celebrate. And, hopefully soon, we won’t have to work so hard to tell Tuesday from Thursday!

Copyright 2021 Laura Nelson