Today is my first sick day from school. I sent my lesson plans in last night and prepared for someone else to teach my class. It's such an odd feeling to be the teacher,one who needs to be replaced. When I was a kid, a young student, all my mommy has to do was call the office and I'd be granted a sick day because "mom knows best" and also because the other doting mothers certainly didn't want their kids to catch whatever bug had infiltrated our house. Childhood sick days ranged from terrible flu-ravaged weeks, to days when I had a sniffle and a cough and enjoyed hours of Little House on the Prairie and plenty of Chicken and Dumplings soup. All in all, being sick was a pleasant experience because it meant lots of sleep and ginger ale and a day with my mom all to myself
In college, "sick day" was an open-ended, generally teacher-approved term for " I don't feel like getting out of bed to go to class at 11:20" .I wish I could say that I used my sick days as liberally as others, but usually I was actually sick. I never took a sick day for a hangover, and only once , OK twice, did I skip class because I didn't have an assignment done. Now, before you write me off as a goodie two shoes who didn't take full advantage of her college freedom you should hear the delicious reasons for the time I did take off: I had the flu (every year), had a concussion--from sledding--had a breakdown thanks to a fight with a roommate, got food poisoning from another roommate who had no idea how to cook. I played hookie once to go to New York and once to go to Paris. But in general, college sick days were full of OJ and crackers and reruns of ER.I stayed in bed. I called the professors who mattered and skipped the classes of the ones who didn't. I had to take care of myself.
Today, I'm at my desk , having just freed myself from my spot on the couch beneath a mound of blankets. I'm sipping tea and writing, but feeling like I should be doing everything else in the world. My kitchen in a mess; my lesson plans are incomplete; my students need help with their research. I need to find a dentist, pay a bill, mail some letters, buy a baby gift. But I can't because I really need to get well. In the working world, I guess, it's better to take one day to rest than to drag around like a zombie for a week. So that's what I'm trying to do. But the truth is, I'm not good at sitting still and I'm even less good at taking care of myself. Sure, I can boil water for tea and make chicken noodle soup from a package but I can't really nurture Rachael. I only ever nag her into feeling guilty for not doing any work .
Today, I'm going to sip tea, watch the Gilmore Girls (thanks b!) and let the world go on without me.
After all, I am replaceable and I'll be back tomorrow.
