Thursday was a great day for Big Guy.

He won $10 and a chocolate bar at a bingo game then spent $8 of the take on Christmas presents for others. He volunteered to share the candy before Boots had even asked for a taste.

He stopped a silly argument with his brother when he was asked and instead explained why he thought the two were disagreeing.

He ate dinner quickly and without complaint, because he was eager to go back to reading his first chapter book.

At bedtime, the Christmas gimmes were gone. When he recited four things he wanted Santa to bring, the list included coffee beans for me.

Huh? Who are you, and what have you done with my child?

Contrast all that to Monday – any Monday, pick one at random. He forgets things at home even though he now has a checklist designed to help him remember. He throws Play-Doh in class. He stretches a half hour worth of homework into an hour or more. He tortures and antagonizes his brother at even turn, and Boots is only to happy to reciprocate.

And it’s like that every week as he slowly morphs from Monday’s holy terror to Friday’s candidate for sainthood. It’s slightly amusing and highly frustrating – and I’ll admit he sometimes pushes me into overreacting. It’s similar to what Aimee at Journey2Learn wrote about this week – obstinate son disappears, leaving an angel in his place – except with Big Guy it’s a very predicable pattern.

I’m sure part of the problem is the transition back to schedule and school after laid-back weekends full of fun – it’s easier to be amiable when not as much is expected of you. But he’s been transitioning back to school on Mondays for a year and a half. Shouldn’t he expect it by now?

I say that,  yet I remember a time when  I’d lie awake until just hours before my shift was to start every Monday, tossing and turning and dreading my return to the clutches of a mentally unbalanced boss. Big Guy’s teacher, though, is not a nut case and he gets plenty of sleep.

I don’t know the reason for his Manic Mondays – and sometimes Tuesdays as well – but I’ve finally realized that they’re regular occurrences. At least now I can count on them and, hopefully, avoid tossing gasoline on the flames.

Copyright 2009 Debra Legg. All rights reserved.

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