Monday Syndrome

I really can't believe I forgot about Monday Syndrome. It's vitally important to the rhythm of our week. How could I have forgotten about it? What was I thinking?

Oh, you aren't familiar with Monday Syndrome? Let me explain. I identified Monday Syndrome a few years back. The symptoms include irritability, whining, excessive frustration, and general havoc wreaking. My daughter is a master of Monday Syndrome.

It took me a few months, back then, to figure out why my Mondays were always so crummy. I finally realized it was really just a reaction to the weekend. For a brief period when my daughter was about 18 to 24 months, we had a really good well-scheduled day going. Meals, naps, playtimes, all were part of the everyday rhythm of life--at least on weekdays. Then we'd hit Saturday and Sunday. Daddy was home from work, we had errands to run, shopping to do, church to attend. The schedule went out the window.

Then came Monday. Back to our regularly scheduled routine. Only Daddy was gone at work now and she'd spent the last two days getting herself all out of whack. Rather than simply settling into the comfort of the weekday rhythm, my determined little one fought the constraints.

Sometime in the last 18 months, I'd forgotten what life was like when Adam went off to work every day. Now that we're starting to settle back into a regular life rhythm, I'm discovering Monday Syndrome has returned as well. It hit with a vengeance yesterday. In fact, Monday Syndrome was so bad, it's even spilled over a bit into Tuesday. By tomorrow everything should be back to normal. I hope.

You know, learning the lessons of parenting is hard work. There should really be some sort of entrance exam for this sort of higher education.