Take Back Tuesdays

nidan via Pixabay

I don't know what day it is. Well, I kind of do because Mondays are hard to miss but, for most of last week and some of the week before, I was confused.

The first week of school started on a Tuesday, so we led off with a four-day week, something that was greatly appreciated by those of us who'd been operating in zero-day work weeks for a month or so.

Week two was a five-day week, except that Hurricane Ida had other ideas, which led to two days of Zoom classes bookended by one and two days of face-to-face classes, respectively.

Week three was a four-day week. By then, all I knew of which day it was was that it was a day ending in "y."

This What-day-itis is a common summertime affliction, but can be dangerous when the semester starts and my MWF schedule is different from my TTh schedule. Add to that the fact that it takes me at least three weeks to get into any semblance of a routine and that brings me back to my current situation.

Today, I am secure in the knowledge that it is Monday and that we will have five-day work weeks until fall break in October, weather events notwithstanding. I am now optimistic that I can get into a routine of sorts, and the thing I am most looking forward to is Take Back Tuesdays.

Over the summer, I made a conscious effort to reset and restore the balance I'd lost when pandemic teaching became a 24/7 endeavor. Now, come fall, I’m trying to avoid falling back into old habits and, instead, protect the time I carved out for leisure time, family time and down time in general.

Toward that end, I have declared Tuesdays "Take back Tuesday." Why Tuesday? Because I teach only one class on Tuesdays, so I get home early. Everyone else works on Tuesdays (not from home, at least not usually) so, when I get home, the house is quiet. And, since it's early enough in the week that I don't feel the need to succumb to a nap, I can take time for the things that usually get pushed aside.

Last Tuesday was my first inaugural Take Back Tuesday. When I got home from work, I read, worked on a jigsaw puzzle, wrote, crafted a few blog posts -- all before tackling any school responsibilities. Later, I took care of some planning and grading but, on Tuesdays, they come second not first.

Take Back Tuesdays were inspired by my frustration over not making my writing a priority. The main goal on Tuesday afternoons is to write, but I also make space for activities that restore and inspire because they make the writing easier.

I'm quite pleased to announce that tomorrow is Tuesday. I have a feeling that, moving forward, I won't get my Tuesdays confused with any other day ending in "y."

At least as long as I stick to the plan.