An Unexpected Advantage

My mom is a nurse. (A great nurse, by the way.) That means that when I was growing up, there was NO faking being sick. If we didn't have a fever, we weren't sick, and we didn't miss church or school unless we were practically bleeding out our ears. I loved school, but I LOVED staying at home with my mom when I was sick because she took such good care of me - I got to lay on the sofa and watch The Price is Right. I didn't often try to fake it because 1) I'm a terrible liar and 2) Momb* would pull out the thermometer and there was NO thwarting the thermometer! I do remember faking an ear infection once for a few days because I wanted to be at home with Momb, but that all came to a screeching halt when she took me to the doctor and - SURPRISE! - there was no infection at all. This was in the days before co-pay's, so parents just paid out of pocket for office visits? Yeah, I felt really guilty for faking it.

I think I still feel guilty about that.
Sorry, Momb!

Well, now I'm a mom myself (Number one: DUH! and number 2: I've not earned the title of Momb yet. I'm still a fledgling.) and The Kids sometimes don't feel well. Home schooling has a distinct advantage on sick days.

Because I can have them do school on the sofa under a blanket and they don't miss anything!

I kid, I kid! I don't do that! 

Yesterday, Deco woke up not feeling well. He said that his throat hurt and his head hurt, so I gave him some Tylenol, installed him on the sofa with the TV remote and went about my business. (I should point out that he didn't ever run a fever. I always pull out the thermometer, too!) Some time later, I could tell he was feeling much perkier - YAY! I made sure that he knew that I thought it was great that he felt better, but he wouldn't be getting up and playing if he hadn't done school.

At about 11:00, he got dressed, started his schoolwork, and felt fine the rest of the day. (I think it's just a bit of a cold.)

When we started home schooling, lo so many years ago, I didn't think too much about what we'd do with sick days. I guess I just assumed that The Kids would be sick at least a whole day at a time! But I like the flexibility we have - they can rest when they're not feeling well and pick it back up when they're feeling better.

*Not a typo. It is Momb, with a "b". And I used to say that the "b" is silent, but I realized as I typed it that it's not. It's pronounced "Mom-buh".