Now that your kids have been in school for a month or more, you may have already begun to notice the subtle (or not so subtle) signs. You’ve seen a pattern. You may have already come to realize that, for the school-aged child, a curse has fallen upon the home.
For those of you with kids in preschool, let this be a warning. Lean in close now, and I’ll tell you all about it.
The Curse of Thursday Night
The patterns are unmistakable. Every week it’s the same. It began, for us, in Pre-K. My darling cherubs LOVED their new school and skipped merrily off to class most days of the with their Thomas the Train lunchbox and matching backpack. But not on Thursdays…
Most mornings they would rise with stars in their sleepy eyes, delighted to see what the world had to offer.
But not on Thursdays.
Monday through Wednesday, our pickup routine after school was always the same. They would run gleefully into my arms, joyous at our reunion, and eager to tell me about their day.
But not on Thursdays.
Thursdays dawned a bit darker. Grumpy and foggy with sleep, they woke up disgruntled and annoyed; their breakfast was disgusting, the clothing choices I offered unacceptable. I, the loving mother, was an abomination in their eyes on Thursdays.
But the mornings are only the tipping point of the Thursday Curse for the school-aged child. It was after school when things started to get real.
I would walk into the classroom, expecting the same joyous greeting I had received the previous three days, but not today, Mama, not today.
On Thursdays, they’ll take one look at me and scream,
“NO! I don’t want to go home!”
Cajoling, begging, and pleading doesn’t budge them. Often, I ended up hauling a little body to the car, howling over my shoulder at the injustice of it all. Did it matter if I picked them up early or late? It did not. Did it make a difference if I brought tasty snacks for the car ride? Nope. Playing music, singing songs, their favorite blanket or stuffie for the ride home? No difference.
Because Thursdays are cursed.
The days and weeks and years go by, and the story is still the same, though the details vary year by year.
Thursdays, for a school-aged child, are the quintessenial no-good-horrible-very-bad-day. If something is going to go wrong, it’s going to go wrong on Thursdays.
And we, the moms, are going to feel the brunt of the curse. Our cherubs have exhibited all that self-control we’ve been teaching them Monday through Wednesday, and by Thursday night, they’re left bone dry.
My advice to you?
Keep Thursday nights sacred, at least in the early years; simple dinners, low expectations, minimal activities.
Plan for meltdowns. I highly advise against going out to eat! Get them into bed early, if you can, and try to keep that evening glass of wine smaller than a pint. Because on Friday, your sweet darlings will awake once again with stars in their eyes, and you will, once again, feel like you can go on to face another day.
