Bugs 1: Me 0

So the bugs won this week.  Jo got sent home with a note about bugs (lice!!) on Wednesday.  I was told two minutes after my lunch break was over that I was to take him home right away.  Growling, I complied.  Then I spent Wednesday night doing the bedding wash/head scrub that any parent who has had experience with the critters knows.  I was doubly frustrated because I couldn't find one bug on his head.  Nary one!

Now I am a bit uptight (okay, a lot), but I was doubly cranky due to feeling miserable myself.  All I wanted to do Wednesday night was crawl into bed with a litre of hot lemon and honey.  Instead I did laundry and comb invisible critters out of my son's hair. 

For the record I am not saying that there were no bugs.  It is quite possible that there were.  I just couldn't find them.  And I know that they love to share themselves among people in classrooms where student heads are often close together.  I am actually quite amazed that this is the first time that we have had to deal with them. (Amazed that after 15 years I haven't had them).

Anyhoo, the plan was that I would take a day, as I was feeling miserable with a cold, and have the little man's head cleared by the nurse at the clinic.  Unfortunately life doesn't always go according to plan.

I woke up Thursday morning feeling beyond awful.  I barely heard LK head off to school.  Fortunately the Sprouts slept until 8:30 (actually the noisy Sprout slept until 8:30, the other one was quietly downstairs reading and eating breakfast with her father before 7).  Anyway, I got a wonderful 11 hours of sleep.  Up to make sure Sprouts had some breakfast (I hadn't heard Fi before 8:30).  Back to bed.

As the only adult in the house I did my best to stay awake and in charge.  I didn't do very well at it.  Thank heavens for Nana!  She checked in on the kids, made them lunch, and was a complete guardian angel.

At 2:30 I dragged myself out of bed, planning to drive over to the clinic and do the head check with the nurse.  Unfortunately LK had the little man's health card in his wallet at school.  And as the world was very wobbly around me I wasn't sure if it was a good plan to get behind the wheel.  So back to bed.

And then after school my sweetie snuggled up with me (figuratively since he didn't want to share my germs) and shared about his day.  He handled everything and let me sleep.  And he didn't even complain when I woke up just in time to kiss Sprouts goodnight and then curl up in front the tv for an hour.  Then it was back to bed.

However, when I chose to go into work today rather than go and get the required sick-note (necessary if you miss more than one consecutive day of work) from the nurse he was less than happy.  He grumbled about how tired I look and how awful I sound - not usually words I love to hear, but he was worried.

When I am sick it is really hard to take more than a day away from school.  A big part of me says, "Cold, shmold, you are tougher than that! If you can stand up you can teach."

Another part of me says, "It is twice as much work to get organized for a sub and they already had a sub for a day.  You might as well just grit your teeth and get through the day."

Plus I have this fear that I am not as sick as I feel and that the nurse will laugh at me and tell me that I am fine.  Stop being a wimp and get your lazy butt to work!

What I am not really hearing over those voices is my husband (who loves me and wants me to be okay) who is saying, "You are not healthy.  Stay home and get healthy.  Your family needs you more than your students or pride do."

And he is right.  There is a time to just let go of everything else.

So, I should have stayed home today.  And I should have drank another gallon of orange juice.

Hindsight 20/20.