that you can predict the weather by a roomful 6-year-olds. Long before it rains, just when the barometer moves, they’ll start to get agitated and cranky. Long before the first drop ever comes down, they will be bouncing off the walls. They also get difficult.

First grade teachers learn how to recognize that frustrated energy when we see it coming. Terachers also prepare for kids who don’t want to come back to school on Monday mornings. Bad weather and Mondays have a lot in common.

Adults do the same things. Some days it’s in the air. Everyone is 2 1/2 dimensional. Their social affect is off. The energy is down. Folks are a little tense, terse, and temperamental.

A horoscope might say that Mercury is retrograde. But truly, days like those happen more often than Mercury could take credit for causing.

Adults also have trouble getting back into work mode on Mondays. Most of us just don’t want to. Weekends are too short and too busy to get us ready for another week to come.

Bad weather and Mondays, kids and adults, have a lot in common. The impending doom of bad weather and Mondays throws us off our best behavior, or tilts our balance some.

One generous smile can make a magnificent difference on a Monday morning.

Give one away and watch what unfolds. It’s almost magical what can happen. People reframe the week that is starting. Eyes open and brighten. Folks get taller and more engaging. They look up. They smile back. Even the cranky ones take notice.

Any first grade teacher will tell you that.

In some ways, we’re all 6 years old.

Who couldn’t use a generous smile on a Monday morning?

It especially works for the one doing the smiling.