You're Gonna Get Sick . . .

I was a pretty fortunate kid when it came to illnesses. I made it through twelfth grade without missing a day of school. Yes, you read that right. I did not miss one day of school. I never got sick, at least on a school day, I never got lice and I never even got pink eye. My body was filled with amazing antibodies that kept me healthy. That is, until I became a teacher.

If you want to know what's it's like to be sneezed on, just step into a kindergarten class. Five year olds are notorious for blowing their snot all over anyone who comes near them. When I first started teaching I figured I must be immune to all of the germs since I barely ever got sick. I was so wrong. I never thought it was possible to run out of sick days until I actually did my first year.

My second year I decided I was going to face the battle head on. I bought every product on the market to ward off any germs that I might come across. Needless to say, I once again ran out of sick days. Was I doing something wrong? How would I ever get to enjoy a personal day off without being stuck in bed? I had to figure something out.

Eventually, things got better. I realized that your first few years just stink. Your body needs to figure out what to do with all these new germs. I still get the occasional cold, but nothing like when I first started out. That's the good news.

The bad news is that there is always something new. A few years ago, I hugged one of my precious students and once I let go of her I saw the dreaded lice crawling in her eyebrows. I'm not lying when I say that is the worst thing a teacher with long hair can ever see. Yep, I got lice for the first time ever and what was even worse was that it was on my birthday weekend.

I have had my share of sicknesses go around the schools I have worked at - scabies, pink eye, fifth disease - you name it, I have seen it. Is there a sure way to escape it? I wish. Should you just avoid all contact with your students? Ha - good luck with that one! My tips for you are to sanitize your classroom on a regular basis, eat a healthy diet (yes, chocolate is healthy), and just know that part of the wonderful teaching career is that you are gonna get sick.