Today I'm Setting A Good Example

Summary of the week:

Monday - Conferences until 10 PM

Tuesday - For the first time in a long while I felt like I was just having a BAD DAY. Lots of little things going wrong and, uncharacteristically, I couldn't keep my cool. I felt irritable and short-tempered. School nurse checked my blood pressure which was slightly low and I had a juice box. After that everything was great.

Wednesday - My assistant stayed home sick. I'm very glad she did for her sake. It was the right thing to do. Everything in class went okay although of course was a little harder with me on my own. Then right when school ended I felt just as bad as on Tuesday. Spacey, unable to focus, famished. I ate a turkey sandwich and just sat for 1/2 an hour. That kept me going long enough to get some things done during a work period after school, then go tutor. By the time I got to a chiropractor appointment I was feeling really weak again.

Thursday - Totally exhausted in the morning. First I woke up early, but then crawled back into bed. Went to midwife appointment and while there felt faint. Decided to stay home. When I called in everyone assumed I was in labor. I had to explain that it had nothing to do with the pregnancy. (Midwife agrees with this.) By evening I was pretty sure it was the flu.

Today - Still home. Feeling guilty as always. Weak weak weak and telling myself that if I went in I would really only be "on" for an hour and a quarter. My assistant took over for me yesterday and today and she's still sick. So that sucks. And my plans for her yesterday were incomplete. (Believe me, they are VERY THOROUGH today because I felt so bad about it.)

BUT... besides the fact that I might be contagious and that I couldn't teach now anyway, I HAVE to get well and strong for this birth which still can happen any moment. No pushing myself allowed. It's not easy. I wish I saw more examples of people taking off when they need to. They're probably there, but I only notice the die-hard workaholics.

I just wish the school had a better way of handling absence so my assistant wasn't stuck with being my substitute. But I guess that's not my fault. And it is one of the realities of teaching.