Today is Tuesday, so I think it may be a good day to tell this story – Friday’s far enough away so hopefully we won’t get influenced by it. I’ve been holding it in for a while trying to decide if it is worth writing about.

One Friday morning I was walking by the open door of a daycare class and I heard the teacher saying, in her daycare teacher voice, this little snippet of conversation,

I couldn’t resist, I peeped my head in and saw the teacher sitting with about six pre-schooler’s (around 1 1/2-3 years old) on the carpet. She waved at me and re-iterated with a big smile: “T.G.I.F.”

This little moment has stuck with me since then.

Who Likes Friday? Who Likes Monday?
My first thought was about how early we are taught how to think the way we think. We probably don’t even remember it. I don’t remember how long I’ve loved Friday’s.

We love Friday when we don’t have to work on Saturday. Some people like Friday more than Saturday because it holds all the promise of the weekend. By the time Saturday is here the weekend is in full bloom and then it ends. Which then means back to work – and we learn, maybe at 1 1/2 years old, that no-one says, “Thank God It’s Monday.”

What about T.G.I.F.?
Second, I thought about work. If we like our work we won’t have to say T.G.I.F. Being yogis especially, we want to be thankful for everyday.

T.G.I.F. also reveals a truth of working with kids. Many think kids are all sunshine and lollipops, but kids do not make you immune from T.G.I.F.

Everyweek I see the very same “T.G.I.F.” teacher changing diapers, one after another. Later she’s wiping runny noses and cleaning up the strewn debris from a toddler luncheon. It’s no wonder she has to explain what T.G.I.F. means to the children. Many daycare’s I’ve gone to have some sort of Friday happy dance routine or song because their work is challenging in its own way.

Kids Learn Manners and Tact – They’re Not Born With It
Not only are you often a hand-maid and house cleaner, if you work with kids you know that they don’t mince words. They’re not born with tact or manners – these are all things they learn from those around them. If they don’t like what you are doing they just say, “I don’t like this.” They don’t care about your feelings, it’s something, an important thing called empathy, hopefully they learn as they get older.

You may be surprised at where you start with young kids. Once in a particularly difficult pre-school class I asked the group to help me come up with class rules. The kids’ first suggestions for our list were:

• no pushing,
• no biting,
• no hitting
• and yes, no spitting.

In many ways teachers are saints for what they do, serving children all day.

But I think why this T.G.I.F. thing stuck with me is it helped me become aware of something. The way we are teaching kids their manners and how to behave, we are also teaching them their attitudes about life, what to like and dislike, and where to set their goals. We are always teaching when we are around kids.

If only I had of thought of it at the time, I could have added when I popped my head in the door, “T.G.I.F.? And don’t forget T.G.I.Y. – Thank God It’s YOGA!”

What do you think, is T.G.I.F. something to think about or not really that big a deal?

Aruna