On a mission to reclaim my Sundays!

[YearningForAWinteryWinter]

Sick of uniforms, laundry, mess, cleaning, nagging on Sundays.
I want to reclaim it as a day of leisure and relaxation.
If you've achieved this or want to do the same, please give me your ideas and tips.

I have no idea so I’m following!!

I usually do the uniforms during the week and straight as they get in on a Friday and wash the lunchboxes, iron the uniform and repack the lunches as much as I can (dried goods)

I prepare the Sunday dinner on a Saturday and stick roast beef in the slow cooker

i absolutely hate doing all household jobs on a Sunday

I do have stuff in the slow cooker on a Sunday (eg bolognese) so I don’t have to cook Monday and Tuesday evenings

as I don’t cook (tend to batch cook) I do a few household jobs during the week (eg strip beds or wash floors etc) so it’s never too bad by the weekend

Do the uniforms, laundry on a week-day evening.
Clear up mess as you see it ( or better yet, get someone else to do it) no matter what day or time.
Same with cleaning, keep up with it instead of doing a deep clean on Sundays, if you do that.
Nagging usually comes from having no day of the week that you're not continually doing things.
Take a tip from some religions, who always keep Sundays as a 'day of rest'. Make soup on Saturday, ( for ex.) and serve it ( and sandwiches, if you're feeling ambitious).
Go to a park for a walk, go out for coffee and sit somewhere nice to 'chat' and catch up with a loved one and fellow resident of your home.
Rest, and relax and don't cook or do anything else unless absolutely necessary, it's your day of rest, one day a week, you deserve it!

Is this what you do? I’m in awe.

I’m the same, op, and I hate Sundays as a result! Everyone in this house always seems miserable on a Sunday 😢

I literally work full time but do nothing on a Sunday if I can help it

Do as much as you can during a week so Sunday is reserved to do pleasant and funny things(and give you a chance to catch your breath)

There’s no point in waiting for stuff to pile up and do a „big job”.
Smaller jobs and more often mean there’s no „big jobs” to do later (they are more time consuming).
Washing up as I go,taking stuff upstairs/downstairs when I go there and „don’t put it down,put it away” massively reduced my workload.
Kids are told (even the autistic one) to do their bit as well- tidy up after yourself,put dirty clothes in the washing machine and so on.

Jeez what is this, the 1950s? Are there any partners factored in here?

My dh does the uniforms on a Friday night. Could you delegate this if you have a partner?

I clear all emails/school payments etc on a Friday afternoon. Take back parcels etc. Bit of general admin.

Saturdays I exercise so mostly rest on a Sunday.

Sundays are still busy with ds’s football matches and I do a lot of food prep for the week ahead in the morning, but I do try and sit down from 3/4pm and watch something and switch off phone - which I’d better do soon!

Wow, why does someone always have to blaze in with this?! My partner feels similarly miserable on a Sunday with all the shit that needs doing.

Depends how you mean reclaim.

I am just about to start to cook a roast but that to me is easy cooking, once prepped it's just time in oven timed.

It's been half term but on a normal school week.

Friday as soon as two teens home from school, I ask for all uniform items.
Friday evening, wash darks for school, trousers, pe kits, jumpers and hang to dry over weekend.
Then wash shirts and tumble dry because it's quick, actually I do the shirt wash first, it's dry by 7pm.
Then wash blazers and hang.

Whilst all that is washing, I empty school bags, lunch boxes and water bottles, wash up.

Usually out, or friends round Saturday but will quite happy put a normal laundry load on.

Then Sunday.
I wash up as I go along and don't have a dishwasher so if you do it might be easier.
I have a clear kitchen table - that to me seems the key to a lot of things
The teens sleep in, either they or us (parents) make a breakfast/brunch quick of eggs with things.

They sit at kitchen table with homework, I sut drinking coffee/tea/herbal tea, we chat, I read, newspaper, book whilst they work.
Then they usually play online games for a bit.
I listen to radio, prep a roast.
At the moment there are exams for one do when, in 10 minutes the roast meat goes in, they will come revise. Take meat out in an hour half, roast potatoes go in, cauliflower cheese 10 minutes later, veg, etc etc, all that takes 45 minutes, then just yorkshires.
Depends on what meat but takes a slow 3 hours whilst I read, shower, paint, talk to teens. Pack school bags, find school shoes etc.

We will eat around 6.30pm play a game or two, we have favourites, it's fun.

Will do a round of washing up and leave anything left to soak.

Chill with H on sofa for hour and half.
Watch something together for hour/hour half with teens.

Bed

My secret to success:
School laundry all done Friday (or Saturday if a drying on the line day)
Clear kitchen table
Wash up as you go along.

Anything that takes time, washing machine, dishwasher etc. get that on as quick as so you can say, I will do kitchen, cook until it's finished. Work smarter not harder.

So work out your tasks that take longest, white wash say, do that first.

It's not a no job Sunday but it's reclaimed to do the stuff I don't mind/enjoy doing.

And don't get down hearted if some sundays go tits up. It happens, that's just life.

No, single parent which definitely adds to the load.

I often do slow cooker Monday meals so I might switch it to Sunday, it’s always cooking a meal after cleaning all day that makes me miserable! Mainly the washing up afterwards so this might well help, thanks!

Cleaner comes on a Tuesday
Food shop delivery Wednesday evening
Clothes laundry Thursday and Friday whilst WFH
Towels washed Sat AM
All bedding done Sunday AM
Kitchen is cleaned and all washing up/dishwasher on at the end of every day.
Apart from the bedding and the kitchen we do no housework on a Sunday, unless someone decides to cook a roast!

Single parent here

I got out of the mindset that everything has to be ready for the week. Frees up Sunday and means getting ready takes a few minutes at most.
As long as Monday is covered, Tuesday can be done on Monday evening. Little and often works better for me.
We do have extra uniform/spares in case the laundry doesn't get done in time.

I agree with extra school uniform. We have lots so DDs are never waiting for stuff to finish in the wash.

But little and often is key, we do at least one household job every day of the week e.g. bedding changed on Mondays, bins emptied on Tuesdays, mopping and vacuuming on Wednesdays, dusting on Thursdays etc etc. On a Sunday I clean the kitchen and DH cleans the bathrooms in the morning so it's all done before lunchtime and we have the afternoon to chill. We don't let things pile up into a big job as we do a little bit, frequently.

Whatever needs doing I like to have done on Sunday morning so that the afternoon is ours to chill out. I also always have my self care Sunday and have a long soak in a bubble bath, exfoliate, face mask, hair mask, body lotion etc so that if everything else has gone to pot I've got that hour on a Sunday afternoon to myself.

Single mum here. I try to get things done on a Saturday and have Sunday as a rest day. I broke my own rule today because my parents need a bit of help, and I'm defintely reaallllly regretting and resenting not sticking to my principals but I guess that's just life sometimes.

Laundry is up for grabs any evening throughout the week. Definitely every Friday night. Friday night I might put on some music and have a boogie while I clean the kitchen while the kids are doing homework or watching their tablets. I try straightening the place up a bit. Once they are in bed I'll clean the bathroom then immediately have a shower (in my head this means I get two things done in the time I usually take for one. This is of course nonsense but it does mean that I keep cleaning to a quick wipe around everywhere, scrub the loo call it done.

Saturday morning the kids go swimming. I try to get beds stripped first thing, but don't always manage that. I try to do school emails/paying after school club/lunch money account etc on my phone while they are swimming. Maybe have a think about something that I can batch cook later on that will help get ahead for the week ahead - like flapjacks for the week's after school snacks or a curry to reheat one week day. Home via a shop if I need ingredients.

Late Saturday morning I'm making beds (spare bedding sets), hoover everywhere (maybe mop sometimes), empty all the bins. The washing machine and dryer are going all day.

Saturday lunch is something quick and easy to make - tinned soup or something.

I'm usually cream crackered and the kids want me by this point so we do some craft or playing or something sedentary together. We might go to the park. Laundry is, of course, laundrying. I might cut the grass or potter doing garden stuff for a bit, or mend the holes that my son seems to create in his jumpers weekly. Maybe some of the aforementioned batch cooking.

I'm definitely knackered by Saturday night and ready to crash out in front of a film. Get as much through the dryer as possible, usually there's some stuff that I have to hang in the bathroom because I'm out of time.

If I've managed that, the payoff is that Sunday is a No Chores day - apart from cooking and washing up, which I do every day and I enjoy anyway, especially on a Sunday when I can take my time.

I will be doing uniforms on a Friday from now on!

Our problem is that dh works long hours and we care for an elderly relative which adds a lot to our workload.
I work every day but part time and have to fit care around that plus kids and all that. and there are still duties during the weekend.
Dc and dh do stuff as well but there's a lot!

I've just put another load in the washing machine and am prepping dinner. It just feels like there's a lot that ends up on Sunday that I could do without!

Get in from work on Friday and throw the laundry in and hoover. Instant uplift.

Get a roomba and set the little devil to work every morning.

Clean the bathroom while you're in it on Saturday morning.

If it's on the stairs it need to go up and be put away. All persons in house to do.

Well don't be too much in awe @Zippidydoodah , today I did manage to go out first thing with DH to sit in the sunshine, enjoy the colored leaves, have a chat over our takeout coffee.
It was all downhill after that.
Hung out two loads of washing, cleaned the bathroom, changed the sheets, prepped and made sweet and sour meatballs over rice, for tea. Did the dishes and ironed 🫤
However I actually do know people who pre-cook easy meals on Saturday and take it easy on Sundays, visiting with family and friends, going for walks...
Sorry to disillusion you 😮‍💨

I feel annoyed that 1/7 of our lives are currently miserable? It's something I feel I need to change.

I've got my notebook out so made a list for today and this week.
I've included all the basic household tasks and will rope family members into doing some too.
I'm looking forward to a more relaxing weekend.

😂 ah, never mind. At least you had some chill out time!

Let us know how it goes! This week I’m chasing my tail massively 🙄

Ahhhhh, I implemented this over a decade ago, but now that the priority has become a habit I'm more flexible. I'm not religious, but I used the notion that it was my "sabbath". It was a fabulous decision, really paced my days/weeks as I never went too long between getting a real breather from the chores of life!