May's useful things doing syndrome

We are on vacation. On the weekends, we are quite good at it: we get out of bed late and the cork can come off the bottle extra early. But then Monday morning comes and we (that’s my beloved and I) already feel slightly uncomfortable at 09:15.

The laptops open, there are calls, texts, and messages (my husband is a bit more old-fashioned than I am). He goes to IKEA to buy ‘all sorts of things for the house’ and I go to declutter my three wardrobes. I had already completely cleaned out and polished the fridge and the china cabinet over the weekend.

Meanwhile, we tell each other that we find it ‘wonderful’ to have such a ‘nice and useful’ week and I pull out the ironing board to fold all the sheets again. It looks so neat.

In an attempt to really find some peace, we take the kids to their grandparents for two nights. On the way back, I briefly fantasize about a day of not getting out of bed and watching four movies or binge-watching Homeland, but in reality, I hear myself saying ‘yes, great’ when Koffietijd asks if I want to be a guest and I happily email back and forth about the invite to our Amayzine party.

‘But I have come up with a solution.’

At this moment, my beloved is cleaning the gutter of our house (including ropes around the waist because it’s quite high) and I am sitting in the café across the street typing my pieces.

Fortunately, it’s almost 17:30 and the rest of humanity is also free, so the guilty feeling can stop. At least until tomorrow morning at 09:00.

But I have come up with a solution. If you all take time off too, then we are all offline, just like at Christmas, and no one has to feel guilty. Maybe we can even do something together that is especially not useful but super fun. Deal?