Monday mornings are ‘A-OK!’ around here!

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I don’t see what the big deal about Monday is! In this house, it is the day when things run the smoothest!

This morning the alarm went off at 6:00. I woke refreshed! (That may have been due to the fact that last night was almost freezing cold, and I was warm and toasty!)

I headed down the hall to get William up, but he was already in the tub. I went out, and fixed his breakfast, and I laid his clothes out for him, and I made sure his bag for school was loaded and ready to go.  Nobody yelled, nobody screamed, and nobody feared bodily harm!

Now we are just kicking back enjoying the extra time before the bus comes. William is sitting in a chair behind me reading a book, fed, dressed, and ready for the bus…Perhaps even a little bored, and I am sitting here tapping away on the keyboard with a smile on my face.

We have had the weekend to just relax, and recharge. No alarm clocks to wake us, no set bed times. No real schedule to keep.  Life was good.

Sadly, as the week drags on, mornings will get increasingly more difficult. When the alarm goes off, I will be a little less prepared for it. The journey down the hall will be done with heavy eyelids, and a few yawns. I will start calling to him about halfway down the hall, and he will be slow to respond.

On Tuesday morning, a call or two will result in some groans. Wednesday will find me standing in his room demanding he get up and stop arguing, and from there it will just get worse.

Around here it is FRIDAY we dread! By Friday morning every last second of sleep is precious! Come friday morning, we are tired, because everybody has a busy life.

Living in the country means William spends an hour on the bus 1 way. School runs from 8:00 until 2:15, but he is on the bus at 7:00 and returns home some time between 3:00, and 3:15.

A trip into town is a 16 mile round trip. Soccer games in neighboring towns become epic journeys. Those nights supper will be after 7pm, and more often than not, on the road.

On Friday the alarm will ring a little longer before I silence it, and only then after my wife has nudged me more than a time or two! The walk down the hall is more of a stumble, because my eyes are pretty much closed. I’ll need to swallow a few extra times to call out “Leetle bahhh-dee! Ees time to vake uhhp! Ees time for vakey-vakey!”, as I have every school day since the first day of kindergarten.

That is when the threats, and demands will begin…mostly from William. After he reaches the tub, it will be my turn for the threats and demands, to keep him awake as he soaks in a scalding hot tub of water, but somehow forgets to actually was his hair.

The first half hour of the day will find  me clattering about the kitchen, cursing the boy under my breath, in between cheery words of encouragement for him to get out of the tub, because he only has half an hour before the bus comes.

There will be no quite time after breakfast for writing blogs, or reading books. Each second will be rushed, because the morning routine which should take 15 minutes ends up taking 58!

Homework will be misplaced. Sneaker laces will have knots in them. Book order money will be due, before Jen or I even knew there was a book order. When winter gets here, there will be the added hassle of missing gloves, wet boots, and stuck zippers on coats.

Nope…You wont find me dreading Monday morning! Well…? Maybe just a little on Sunday night when I don’t want to go to bed at a reasonable hour, but otherwise? BRING IT ON!

Doug Alley

About Doug Alley

I grew up in Bath, Maine in an upper lower class family with 3 step sisters, a step brother, and a little sister. After high school I spent 3 years serving in the USAF at Elmendorf AFB in Anchorage AK. I've competed in, and won, demolition derbies. I've competed in, and never won, stock car races. I am the 47-year-old father of an 11-year-old boy who is pretty sure he is smarter than I ever was. We live on a little less than an acre of land in a 1973 mobile home in Stetson with my wife Jen, some cats, a few chickens, and rabbits, and a couple of goats. I hunt, fish, camp out, dabble in photography, gardening, and I cook in variable degrees of near success.