Monday mornings, it seems, bring out the best or the worst in people. I am very aware of the different attitudes expressed by people as I greet our students and their parents every morning at school. I have the before school extended day watch which begins at 7:00 a.m. Even the little three-year-olds have definite opinions about Monday mornings!
It seems the majority of people I meet would prefer to skip Mondays altogether…just go on to Tuesday…but I ask you, “Wouldn’t that make Tuesday morning a Monday morning anyway?” So it goes on, a true tautology! Why do so many people gripe and groan about the first day of the new work week? I guess the main reason may be because they had so much fun relaxing over the two-day weekend that they didn’t want it to end. Others may have had so much fun that they are too tired to think of putting in a full day’s work.
I typically dread Monday mornings because I work with young children. I have seen the pattern of a majority of parents relaxing their authority over the weekends, thus making it hard for teachers to guide the students back to working within parameters. Lack of a good night’s sleep for young children can bring tantrums, doldrums, grouchiness, and general malaise.
One of the worst-case situations are with those students who are on medications for ADHD whose parents stop the medication over the weekends and then start them up again on Monday mornings. I have yet to see that effort bring about any good feelings. (I am not a proponent of ADHD drugs anyway, except in very rare extreme cases, but put them on or keep them off; not both.)
My usual solution for my students who come back a little more bossy than usual or a little more demanding than usual is, “You got away with it over the weekend, didn’t you?! Well, I’m not your mother!” They get the message pretty quickly and all is well again.
Monday mornings signal another week is beginning and we have a limited number of them left in which to cover all we want to teach. It is like a clock ticking on a time bomb. It seems like there is just never enough time…even with all the time-saving devices we have in this world. So, the old adage is again proven true, “Time waits on no man.”
My husband and I have tried to remember that God said to rest on the seventh day. When we don’t, we usually find ourselves so drained that it’s hard to regain adequate strength for the new week. We are doing better at setting time aside beyond the usual church time, and we do find it works!
The hardest Monday morning for me is the one after the school year is over and everyone is gone from the campus. The halls and classrooms seem so empty and lonely without the usual din of children’s voices and laughter. So, I take a deep breath, look into each room and do an instant replay in my mind of the best moments of the past year… then grab a broom or a box to begin the work necessary for school to begin on the first Monday of August!
- Kay