Sick of Being Sick

So, I'm sick. I've probably got the freaking Swine, and I am so frustrated I can't stand myself anymore. I HATE being sick. I come from a long line of women who see medical intervention as weakness and despise weakness -- my 56 year old aunt went to work on a broken foot for a week before she finally got an x-ray, and another aunt actually had her vagina literally fall out before she went to the doctor. Seriously, we have issues.


Anyway, I got sick on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, but I was only a little achy and tired and I had to go to work because it was parent/teachers day. By Wednesday I was fairly ill, but I didn't want to waste a sick day on a 1/2 day, and I was worried about my students making it to the pep-rally if I wasn't eagle-eyeing them, and I was worried about staffing because many of my colleagues had departed for the holiday and I really like my bosses, so I didn't want to screw them over. In other words, in the early phases of this thing I pushed through like it wasn't really happening.


By Thanksgiving I was all done. I think I spent about 7 hours of the day awake, and not in a row. My poor husband cleaned the house, prepared dinner, watched the babies, and made me tea whenever I was awake. And I grumbled. I suck as a patient. I love, love, love my husband -- but I hate myself when I'm sick. I'm snappy and rude; basically, I'm a b#tch. Luckily for him, I was mostly asleep.

Now, it's Sunday night. I'm still sick. In fact, I might even be sicker. I've had a low-grade fever for days, sore throat, headaches, body aches, diarrhea, sneezing, congestion, and nausea for days. Nice, huh? Doesn't it sound totally sexy? I bet you wish you were me. Well, now I also have the world's most annoying, painful cough. It seems I'm also hyperbolic when I'm sick (but also when I'm well, so whatever).


So with the intermittent fever and cough, it seems I'll be on lockdown again tomorrow. Basically, I've spent a 4 1/2 day holiday sick as F#@k. This is not new for me. I often get sick over long weekends and Holidays. It is massively aggravating. The only time I went out all weekend was to sit in the car while my family went into Trader Joes. I needed to go out for the ride, but we didn't want to get the stares from the people like I'm carrying the flipping plague. And trust me, at this point I agree with them.

My husband tells me that the mind-over-matter stuff is BS, and that studies show you can't put off being sick. So I asked him, "If this is true, why do I always (and I mean always -- people remark on it) get sick on vacations and holidays?" His response? Bad luck. Oh, so the idea that my body subconsciously waits until it can relax to get sick is unscientific, but bad luck is scientific? Bad luck -- really, honey?

People Who Can't Do, Can't Teach.

I'm sorry I've been MIA for so long, but I've been reacclimating to work and  starting potty training with my 2.5 year old. Ugh.

So here's my latest rant: Why do people feel like they have to defend cops and firemen but openly attack teachers? Seriously, I want to know.

I love cops; my brother is a cop. I love firemen; my closest childhood friend is a fireman. I love soldiers; both my brother and my friend were soldiers. I love teachers; I am a teacher. Having said that (cue music: "three of these things" -- Sesame Street) ...

My brother and my friend agree with me when I say three of these groups need no defense, while the one group that actually needs support is often derided and dismissed.

No one attacks firemen. Firemen are the quintessential American heroes. Really, how can you attack this guy? I realize that he may not be a real fireman, but this is the image right? Or maybe this is just a present to the ladies who read my blog.

But really, isn't this what you assume is in those Firemen Charity Calendars? This is what I picture. Maybe I should buy one this year. It would be a write-off maybe?

Even if it isn't...

Sorry for going off track. I was distracted. Now, back to my point.

No one is currently going on record as anti-soldier. Anti-war? Yes. Anti-soldier? No. This is of course not historically true, but Vietnam wasn't that long ago and we seem to have rightly learned that valuable lesson as a society.

Few people attack the police, and they are largely disenfranchised groups with little to no voice, and cops have much more power in our society than most people realize. State troopers are like the cops in the movie Demolition Man in that generally everyone does what they say and trusts their word on its face, most of us treat them like they are incapable of doing the wrong thing even though we intellectually know they are only human.

Lots and lots of people attack teachers. We are called money hungry -- but on average we earn far less than most people with as much schooling as we must have. We are called glorified babysitters -- despite the fact that everything we do is grounded in research and designed to stimulate the growth and development of the human mind. We are called lazy -- yet I do far more work on weekends and evenings than most of the other professionals I know. We are treated like school marms with antiquated notions -- however, we are mandated to keep up with current research like any skilled professional.

All this and we are expected to live the private lives of nuns, while constantly being sent the message that anyone could do what we do. On the next snow day, when you are trapped inside with your kid (probably cursing the school's snow policy) remember that I do this every day. But I do it with 30 kids who aren't mine. Still think my job is so easy? As the Price Is Right used to say, "C'mon down!"

And in closing,  I'd like to say thanks, America. No, really... thanks for all your support.