Sick again? It's only been two weeks since my last sick day!
I felt bad enough to hit the clinic on the way home. (Mike is the one with the cool doctor. Me, I just couldn't go to a boy doctor, nor could I face Cool Doctor with a mouth full of blue all-day cough drop goo.) The clinic was so depressing that, after the first 30 minutes of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the sneezing and spraying collective, I just had to leave before it got worse.
Then I came home, and it got worse. "Can't swallow, tonsils are floppy" became "CS,TAF + must carry pail everywhere in case of barfsies + brrrr brrr brrrr sixth blanket please! + waking up, gasping for breath every few minutes, hurling the air in and out."
I wish I'd just gone to Cool Doctor because, geez, this is my eighth sick day this year, I think. I'm rather appalled.
Upside: the kids were angelic today. I wrote on the board that I couldn't talk, then I wrote instructions on the board, then I explained everything to the first one with questions (one glass-crunching syllable at a time), then I sent everyone to that person. Talking? Almost NONE. They were shushing each other. It was MAGIC.
It reminds me of how I used to feel: they may not be the best students (they're not, they're terrible), but if you're sick or need something carried or whatever, they're right there.
Interesting time to start suckering me back in, kiddos.
I've got a sub but I really don't want to take another sick day - I just think it looks bad. On the other hand, that's what they're there for. And it's not like I'm one of those teachers always missing a half day for her kids or because family is in town. But, sickness = weakness. But, a lot of the kids were out today, too. (Which may explain the quiet.)
And then on the zillionth hand, "looking bad" should not be a reason. I have a very thorough handout and lesson plan for tomorrow, and they'll have time to finish the assignment in my presence. So, what's best for the kids - a sub who can answer their questions, or a weakling teacher who can just point and shrug apologetically and say, "I'll help you more when I can talk again"?
End justification sequence. Resume grabbing sides of counter whenever I need to swallow.
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