Groundhog Day is a 1993 Bill Murray movie, where a grumpy weatherman gets stuck repeating the same day over and over again. He wakes up every morning to the same Sonny and Cher song, the same people, the same events.

Housework can feel a lot like Groundhog Day. The dishes, dirt, laundry, errands, and meals just keep coming. Nothing stays done. If you have small children at home, the effect is compounded and it’s easy to feel like you’re trapped in a loop of nappies and feeding and cleaning up mess, that every day is just a repeat of the day before.

It’s not true, you’re not in Groundhog Day, but the feeling that you are can build up it’s own momentum and make you feel trapped and miserable. This happened to me. I would feel bored and frustrated and then very guilty for feeling like that. I thought I should be unreservedly and effortlessly loving my life at home with small kids. Trying hard not to think of my life as Groundhog Day only made it worse. Paradoxically, the best way to dissipate the Groundhog Day feeling might be to embrace it.

If you’re in Groundhog Day make the most of it. Go all Bill Murray on your life and take the opportunity to make your Groundhog Day excellent – the most perfect day for you. You have to do laundry or tidy up or make school lunches every single morning day after day after day – great! Pay attention, tweak and change what you do, use every repetition to do your tasks just a little better, or faster, or with more presence or fun or energy or grace or whatever.