Pants-Free Parenting: For parents Mondays are the new Saturdays

As a working parent with two kids in school, my work begins on the weekends. It's on the weekends that we clean, we go on outings, do crafts and grocery shop. My children don't sleep in, so we are up at 6 in the morning, playing, walking to the park, doing house repair, making many happy exhausting memories.

Last week, my family took a road trip to Denver for my sister's wedding. Initially, we were supposed to break up the return trip into two days. But by the time we hit Omaha it was almost 6 in the evening, so we turned on a movie and powered on ahead. The next morning was Monday and in order to give ourselves a break, my husband and I took the kids to school and headed into work ourselves. It was so relaxing.

As a parent, work has become my break. Work has become my 'me time.” Monday is my Saturday. Because while I still have to wake up early, at least there is a point in the day when I am able to finish a cup of coffee without having to turn on 'Octonauts” so people stop asking for 'uppies.”

This isn't just a phenomenon I've noticed. My friend Mel calls Mondays the new Saturdays. She enjoys her long silent drive to the office and ability to eat a sandwich sitting down. A friend of mine who just had a baby and is a freelance writer recently bemoaned all the relatives who visit, the party invites and the house cleaning. 'I just love Mondays when I can take a break.”

Parenting is a job that never ends. You are at work from morning until night and your co-workers are tiny little psychopaths who will not be pleased. As a parent, you cannot call HR when your tiny co-workers won't stop licking you. You don't get a lunch break. There are no vacations. You can't call in sick. For the most part, people listen to you and want you to help. And with the exception of a few publishing executives I've worked with, your bosses don't usually just start screaming at you right after you've done exactly the thing they asked you to do.

It doesn't surprise me when I see other parents turning to side businesses or getting trapped in pyramid schemes. I understand it. They just want a boss who isn't going to poop on them.

I often hear people bemoan our corporate culture of work, but it is this work that enables me to be a good parent. This hard business of business reminds me that I am still human and not a walking cookie machine or home-to-park valet service. And I love it. Now, if you will excuse me, my tiny pooping bosses have some jobs for me.

' Lyz Lenz is a writer, mother of two and hater of pants. Email her at eclenz@gmail.com or find her writing at LyzLenz.com.