Melancholic Malady

I am sure you have all have experienced this some time or other. The butterflies in the stomach that approaches as the weekend winds down on Sunday evening and you stare hard at the ceiling at night, many things on your mind, and worrying about the morning after. I don't know if they have a medical term for this, but practically everybody suffers from it. From school kids to NS boys to working adults.

I knew that it was coming for my son (34-month old Ethan) as he kept asking in the last few days if he had to go to school. He started showing all the classical symptoms of Monday Morning Dread - fussiness, crying, inability to sleep throughout the night, loss of appetite, wanting to play. This morning, his fears rose to a climactic high, and he burst into tears and clung tightly to my wife like a Koala, unwilling to go to childcare.

Naturally, we will be asking his childcare teachers if anything is the matter, as he normally doesn't exhibit such behaviours. Being an optimistic, cheeky (very), and jovial boy, Ethan has many friends in school, and seems to be generally well-liked. However, as he nears 3 years of age, his behaviours appeared to have changed. It appears as if the neuroses of adulthood are slowly creeping in. Scary.

Watching my son in action (or inaction rather), I wonder why it is necessary for us human beings to go through this. Is there a way to make the transition easier from a wild weekend to a manic monday? How do we ease the pain of going back to the grind after staying up late? How do we escape from the hangover effect of a happy though hurried weekend?

I guess this is a question that we may never be able to answer. It is a rhythm in life - a circadian rhythm and biological clock that has its peaks and troughs. You work and go to school from Monday to Friday, and play from Saturday to Sunday. There are no two ways around it right? Or are there?