Wait, it’s Saturday? How to make the weekend shine in lockdown when days blur – USA TODAY

Experts don't know if coronavirus is transmitted through clothing, but it's good to keep these laundry tips in mind. USA TODAY

Hosting the historic, first ever livestreamed Saturday Night Live, Tom Hanks made a point in the opening monologue that many Americans have become acutely aware of.

Theres no such thing as Saturday anymore," Hankssaid, speaking from his kitchen. "Every day is just today.

He might have gone even further, pointing out that weekends havebecome endangeredin the locked-down-at-home coronavirus era, as the days blurs together to vaguely different variations in a country sheltering in place.

"It's this blurring of the delineation of Monday through Friday. People used to say 'Thank God it's Friday,' But wehave lost that sense of time," says life coach and human behavior expert Patrick Wanis.He maintains that it'simportant to take the extra effort to separate the weekend, or a specific timeof rest, duringthe temporary lifestyle change.

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The Miami-based Wanis himself declines to take on non-mandatory work projects into the weekend to make those days special.

Others have moved weekly happy hours from barsto video chat. People are cooking in place of Saturday night meals at restaurants and trying to recreate spa experiences at home.

"You've got to create time to be calm, to be relaxed, to rejuvenate, to rest," saysWanis.

Driveway parties andZoom happy hours mark the weekends now

Across the country, Americans have done their best to celebrate the weekend in unusual ways such as aEugene, Oregon socially distant weekend block party organized by Mary Lou Vignola and her husband, Frank, on March 21. The party featured tables and chairsset up on driveways as neighbors socialized from a socially appropriate distance.

Robin Cummings sets a table in her driveway as she joins her neighbors for a socially distant weekend block party in Eugene, Ore.(Photo: Chris Pietsch, The Register-Guard)

"Glee" actress Becca Tobin, one of three members of the lifestyleLadyGang podcast, works to maintain her Friday ritual of cleaning the house in the afternoon as if she were going to have her friends over. And she still gets ready to go 'out.' "I shower, actually wash and dry my hair, put on a little make-up, jewelry, a cute outfit, and even shoes," says Tobin. "I prepare a really yummy cocktail for myself and join my standing appointment with my closest friends for 'Fancy Friday' cocktails on Zoom."

Fellow LadyGang podcaster Keltie Knight has been improvising on keeping her weekend foot massage or spa treatment ritual going at home. "Ive been leaving my phone upstairs, putting a mask in my hair and having a glass of wine in the hot tub, and then getting out and slathering myself with delicious smelling lotion," says Knight. "Its almostthe same."

Keltie Knight, a member of the LadyGang podcast, gives herself a personal spa date.(Photo: courtesy of Keltie Knight/LadyGang)

Actress Jane Seymour has dedicated her weekends to starting a new painting, a centering activity and her longtime passion."It allows me to feel like Im doing a reset. Leaving the previous week behind and getting a fresh perspective."

The British-born Malibu, Calif. residentalso carvestime to cook a major meal on the weekend, which she shares with her fellow quarantine-r, her grown-son Johnny. During the time they think about family not able to attend."Its a good way to feel connected to family when were not all physically able to be together right now. And I know that Johnny appreciates all of the home cooking," she says.

Cookbook author and mother of twoManuelaMazzoccokeeps cooking at the center of her family-centered weekend routine, which she has worked to keep in place throughout California's stay-at-home orders.

"Cooking is most fun when done in company, while chatting and working together," says Mazzocco, who suggests small celebration enhancements such as popping open a bottle of something bubbly, playing music and setting the table with candles. "Tomake the weekend meal feel special and different,I start with a quick look at myself in the mirror and find what would make mefeel special. A cute dress and lipgloss are all I need and what works for me."

Kristina Kuzmic talked about divorce and life as single mother in her book "Hold On, But Don't Hold Still." Re-married, she's using her life lessons to get through life in a pandemic.(Photo: Karen Erekson)

Comic and authorKristinaKuzmic says she is using the lessons she learned as a divorced one-time single mother to get through the coronavirus pandemic. Remarried and living in a household with three children, she spends much of the week dealing with home-schooling due to closed schools and juggling her own work responsibilities, which includes V-logging her life for her 140K YouTube followers.

"Butweekends are just fun. All the school routines are set aside. We forget sometimes that ourkids are feeling stressed, too," says Kuzmic. "I'm a rule enforcer but I'm also a fun enforcer. And you have to create that in times like this."

Kuzmic says it's crucial to laugh and enjoy momentswith the family, even in the midst of a pandemic which is having a more dire impact on many around the globe.

"Its important to teach our kids thatenjoying your life is not disrespectful to the people who are suffering," says Kuzmic. "Theres a way to honor those people and wish the best for all of them. Dont teach your children thattheir life has to stop."

Ultimately, experts like Wanis believethat asilver lining could be that the current crisisbrings thoughtfullife changes that couldlead to healthy re-prioritizing an understanding that a weekend is something that has to be worked for and protected, which is something Americans were losing sight of.

"If you think back to your parents, your grandparents, there was a time when people actually did not work Saturday and Sunday. And then ask yourself:who was mentally healthier, your grandparents or you? Most likely it was your grandparents," says Wanis. "There was structure and routine, there was more balance. This is the time for us to rebalance by reevaluating our life."

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