Sunday Night Bonanza-Blues

AA and Ab have decided to join the "Running Club" at school. A couple of very thoughtful and giving teachers sponsor this club in which kids just stick around after school and run.

Since the idea is still fresh, they are both willing to run with me a little in preparation - and frankly I haven't been all that willing this winter. Anyway, Sunday evening last, we all three ran the "Y - shaped" course that links our driveway with that of my brother-in-law.

While running AA said - for a second time that evening - "I don't want to go to school tomorrow".

Now this boy likes school, he gets excited about all the going's on, it seems that he can't wait to get his homework done in the evenings. But in recent months his statement about not wanting to go to school has become a common Sunday Night occurrence.

Being a victim of the same malady - I understand what he is dealing with. My mom called it "the blues" and as a boy I, too dealt with them on most Sunday nights.

In most cases life had been non-stop wonderful since 3:30 the previous Friday but suddenly on Sunday night it all began to slow down and Monday loomed heavily in the future.

We were always a Sunday night church family. There was no question about whether we would attend church or not. On those rare occasions that we did stay home, it was something of a wicked and delicious treat to get to watch Ed Sullivan (yes, I remember), Candid Camera and The Wonderful World of Disney.

Now Sunday night church was usually fairly exciting - especially in a Pentecostal-Charismatic church like we attended, but when it was over we had to go home to "Bonanza" and a sad contemplation of another week of school.

Dad liked Bonanza and it was standard fare for our Sunday nights. I must admit I always liked the gentle-giant, "Hoss" and thought "Little Joe" was so cool - but Bonanza required a long attention span. Besides, I longed for some levity - something to life my spirits; what with all the dying of the Cartwright boys' girlfriends - the show could be downright depressing.

It was very common for me to have "the blues" on Sunday night - in dread of Monday morning.

When I became a teenager, we still went to church on Sunday night but Sunday night after church became a major social hour and I could be found at the local Wendy's, Pasquale's or Sizzlin' Steakhouse. The noise would drown out the blues.

I guess I carried on that practice until well after R. and I were married.

Now do you know what?

There is a particular point on Sunday night that is my favorite time of the whole week.

We try to do a family devotion time every Sunday night and so it would be real good if I said that was my favorite time but that's not it. It actually comes just after that, when both of our bounding, bickering bundles of joy are finally lulled into suspended animation.

That's when R. and I get together for dinner. For me, it is usually a (turkey) BLT; R. is not so rigid in her traditionalism - she may have any old kind of sandwich. From there, we select a movie - and on the best Sunday nights it is a light-hearted Black-and-White movie - and we sit down side by side on the sofa and just enjoy.

It is honestly the highlight of my week.

In fact, I must say that I have had very few cases of the "Sunday Night Blues" since R. came along.

Unfortunately, I don't think that will be a great consolation to AA. However, I have the sneaking suspicion that as the sun gets a little warmer and the days get a little longer, he will find his Sunday night blues fading quickly - faster than Hop-Sing can cook up a casserole.