To do NO housework or mental load work on my new days off

[AlternateFri]

... not really an AIBU, I know I am definitely not being U!

Just got my hours switched at work to work 10 days over 9 to have every other Friday off.

Have told DP and DC I'll be doing no housework.

What would you do on a free day to yourself every fortnight??

YABU

I wouldn't have told them

House work!

I would get things done so days off with dh and children are better days off

If you’re working the same amount of hours then YANBU. I’d read, walk, probably do the weekly shop to free up the weekend and generally enjoy myself greatly.

Everything you want to but can't on other days !
Includes but not limited to :
Hot bath
Leisure afternoon reading
Binge-watching netflix
Getting started on that crochet project you've been wanting to do forever
Taking up painting/writing/sports/any other hobby

Can't believe some posters say to do the housework 😂 so your days off with DH and kids are better, really ? Or so they don't have to lift a finger while she does everything on her own because they're at school /working on that day.

OP, don't do housework and don't do the shopping either ! You can do that another day.

My friday would look like this: Take a cup of tea back to bed after everyone has left and read my book. At some point, get up and walk down to my local cafe for a coffee and read my book some more. Walk home and go back to bed for an afternoon snooze. Get up at about 3pm and prepare myself for the children coming home from school.

I often have days off in the week when no one else is at home even though I work full time - because I work 13 hour shifts in the nhs - No if it’s just 1 day off - bugger the housework
go for a run, to the cinema, get your nails done read a book, have a long lie in if you really have to do something just potter.
and enjoy

I have every Friday off despite working full time (I work longer than average days) and I very rarely do housework/life admin. I do the school run then go to the gym for a few hours, have lunch, the veg on the sofa until the kids get home. It's bliss.

YANBU! I love my Fridays off. I use them to do everything I can’t do with a child in tow as I’m a lone parent. So I go clothes shopping, get my hair cut, see grown up films at the cinema, watch box sets, I linger in cafes as long as I like, without someone saying ‘mum - mum - mum can we gooooo?’. I have afternoon naps. It’s also handy time to wrap birthday/Christmas presents for my child. Next month I have a spa half-day booked. Sometimes I go for a wander round a stately home or local cathedral/pretty place/museum at my own pace.

I save my housework for the weekends when my child is at home!

I'll still be getting DC up and dressed and ready waiting by the door at 7.30am to be taken to school by DP.
I'll also still be picking DC up at 3.30 and ferrying to activities.

Still the same full time hours at work, and pay.

At first I thought YABU then I realised I’m just jealous. I would love a whole day every month to do whatever I liked!

Definitely don’t do house work! What’s the point of doing 10 days in 9 if you don’t get any benefit from it?

I'm taking Tuesdays off for the rest of the year to use up holiday and TOIL. I don't work Fridays anyway.

Today, I planned to do some gardening, which is for me because I enjoy it, and go for a dog walk with a friend. Unfortunately I twisted my ankle last night, so instead I sat in the conservatory most of the day and read my book 😊.
I also vacuumed the utility and then set the robomop off in there and the robovac off in the kitchen & conservatory. I bloody love robots.

Nobody is going to give you a medal for being a martyr.

One of the reasons my ex became an ex, in addition to the abuse, was because he tried avoiding any chores whatsoever. He'd have said something like this, expecting me to give up my child free time so that he didn't have to do anything other than sit on hs arse. I actually worked more hours than he did.

OP, enjoy your free time. I also work a 9 day fortnight, cramming full time hours into 9 days. If I want, I do some stuff on that non-working day (never, ever call it a day off, people end up with an attitude that you're somehow playing a system). But I spend most of the day doing things for me.

This is what I am thinking.. if I'm not careful I'll end up working longer and more intense work days to just pick up more of the domestic and mental load. That's not the point at all!

This thread is helping me define the days as my time.

I used to go horse riding. Now I work full time again, I actually sadly prefer it, I get out of sorts with a day off in the week (yes I’m odd)!

Well I would do something fitness related in the morning then mooch all day not feeling guilty. Potter to a cafe for lunch, cake, cocktail! Have a hot bath, go for a swim, see a friend

Do whatever YOU want to do.

For me at the moment it is gardening, walking with a friend - we both enjoy it and get exercise and to chat.
I catch up in admin, fit in any appointments, shopping etc.

Do not do the housework.

I'd book a weekly exercise class, visit a new cafe for a coffee, read, nap,watch that TV program no one else is interested in, go for a long walk with a podcast, nap, go to a gallery, have a glass of wine at lunchtime, nap.

Yes @TurquoiseDragon ! I have been really careful at work to call it "non working day" for that exact reason! Luckily my workplace has a good culture of this and lots of people already do this pattern.

My Fridays:
Gym
Museums
Daytime concerts
Lunch at places the rest of my family hate (or just at home eating the food noone else likes)
Present shopping/wrapping, true, so useful!
Reading

I'm going to miss my Fridays off when I go back to fulltime.

I thought they would consist of late awakenings, leisurely breakfasts, a swim/gym, bit of shopping, getting my eyebrows/nails done and afternoon naps.

At best, they consist of waking up at exactly the same stupidly early time as usual and having a bath before I realise there aren't any clean cups or cutlery or food in the fridge and having to unload/reload the dishwasher before I can have a coffee, because he's just mentioned as he walked out the door that 'there's a delivery coming, can you wait until after it's been delivered to go out today?'.

I won't be telling him after I've gone full time if I've got a day off. I did a half day on a Tuesday recently and didn't mention it to him. No deliveries, no empty fridge, clean cups, just peace and quiet and the lovely afternoon nap in the sunshine.

Going against the majority here but putting an alternative view.
If you’re about to start working longer days then will your DH be doing more of the household stuff (cooking/childcare/laundry) on the other 9 days?
If so then I think you should expect to cover some of household stuff on your day off so that as a family you all benefit from better quality weekends.