. . . But on the Other Hand . . .

Today was the first day in almost 2 weeks that I finally felt pretty good -- not sick, not fighting being sick, not getting over being sick, but actually felt normal. I did NOT have H1N1. I did not have a normal garden-variety cold either. I started with 24 hours of a scratchy throat, then a day of what threatened to be a major sinus problem, then a day of bronchial coughing, then 12 hours of low fever, drippy nose and itchy eyes, then heavy sinus stuff, and so on. For most of the days I've had a very productive chesty cough, but no fever except for the 12 hours over a week ago. I did take one sick day, and I spent 2 weekends doing absolutely nothing. I spent last week coming directly home from school, napping, and going to bed early. Most nights I had no problem sleeping, and I only went through 2.5 boxes of tissues. So it's been a weird collection of symptoms. I did call the dr on my sick day, but was told it wasn't flu. So that was the good news for the day.

On the other hand, I had a really difficult day with one of my classes. There are 4 students in that one class who regularly act out, usually one at a time. Today all 4 of them were "off". None of the usual tricks of the trade were working - pulling aside, moving seats, time-out, change task, etc. On the bright side however, a number of the other kids in the class took it upon themselves to start exerting some positive peer pressure -- one of the popular kids (who's not always perfectly behaved, but who is just your normal 12 year old who occasionally makes a bad choice blurted out "Will you guys knock it off! Mrs. W is trying to teach us!"' Gotta love that kid!

Report cards went home today too. Most kids had decent grades, but a few received failing or close-to-failing grades. I know I will get some parent feedback, and unfortunately it's usually of the "It's your fault, not my child's fault" variety. On the other hand, I did get an email from a parent who said that until his child's grades improve, his child will not be allowed to play video games, and also asked if there was any way his child could stay after school occasionally to get some extra help.

I stayed late tonight too --- I needed to rearrange some furniture, clean my desk, and finish putting together a project the kids will start next week. On the other hand, we don't have school tomorrow in honor of Veterans' Day. I'm all set for Thursday and Friday, and have my planning done for Monday and Tuesday too.

So, tonight I will relax, watch some TV and get some knitting done. On the other hand . . . I could go to bed early and read late!