This school year has been challenging for me. Just when I thought I was getting the hang of this teaching thing, I received a particular group of 8th graders who are making me rethink everything I do. With one semester now complete, I’m starting to think maybe it’s a good thing that these kids are shaking things up for me a bit, but that was not my outlook a few months ago. I am embarrassed to admit that several times last semester I found myself thinking or even quietly muttering under my breath that I would just like a sick day.
Somebody heard and delivered.
The problem is that my sick day came on my last day of Christmas Break and was the Sick Day from Hell.
Ever had the feeling you were in the Twilight Zone? Yeah, that was my Sunday.
I woke up around 2 a.m. feeling really…funky. I went to the bathroom several times, but the feeling did not subside. I’d eaten pizza for dinner and I knew it was the culprit (needless to say I will never be eating that particular brand of pizza again…). I was in misery, but figured I could sleep it off.
Then 4 a.m. struck. As life’s little irony would have it, Ryan and I had just been having a (very weird) conversation a few days prior about how it had been SO LONG since either of us had last puked.
Ha.
Let’s just say my puke-o-meter has now re-calibrated itself. I truly don’t think I’ve ever been sick like that in my life. But the good news was that once it was over I felt better and hopped back into bed, at which point Ryan told me he was not feeling well. He had not eaten the pizza; in fact we had not eaten anything in common the entire day, so what made us sick is still a mystery. After a few moments, he got up and went to the bathroom. I was trying to get back to sleep when I heard strange thumping coming from our bathroom. I got up to see what was the matter only to find Ryan passing out on the floor.
I am here to tell you, that was the scariest moment of my life. I thought he was dying. I started freaking out and called my mom.
We’re still not sure what that was all about – maybe low blood sugar because he hadn’t eaten much for dinner on top of the nausea? But I was starting to feel pretty weird. I was puking up my guts and Ryan was passing out? What had infested us?!
We both finally managed to go back to sleep in the early morning, just in time for Silas to wake up, of course. By the time 8 a.m. rolled around, we were both pretty pitiful. I tried to take care of Silas as best I could between sips of 7Up, but I finally caved in and begged my mom to come over and watch him so Ryan and I could sleep, and sleep we did.
I woke up feeling slightly better and walked into the kitchen where Silas started crying for me to pick him up. I did so, and promptly had to hand him back to my mom and run to the bathroom. Round Two.
I’ll speed up and bypass the gory details. Ryan (who never did toss his cookies) and I both felt miserable all day long, and after my mom left, I simply lay lifeless on the couch, watching a Dance Moms marathon, trying my best to amuse Silas who was horribly fussy. I felt like the world’s worst mom. It was truly a low feeling that makes me so sad when I look back on it, but what could I do, and what could Ryan do?
I woke up Monday morning feeling generally well, and as the day continued the only thing that seemed out of sorts was that I was voraciously hungry from keeping down nothing but some 7Up, a banana, and a handful of crackers the day before. We seemed to have left the Twilight Zone.
My brush with the 24-Hour Virus from Hell truly gave me a new lease on life, though. In the classroom on Monday I felt rejuvenated! I was excited to see my students and introduce new material! I was happy to breathe the fresh air! When I got home I was excited to clean the kitchen! And strip the sheets! And make Silas a new batch of wipes! And do loads upon loads of laundry! Who would have thought? So I guess my sick day was much needed after all. I hope I don’t soon forget how pathetic and useless it rendered me, so that I can stay productive and engaged in life 
If I would have found Mark passed out on the floor, I would have flipped. So glad to hear you’re feeling better and that Silas didn’t get it.
That is ridiculously scary. New Years Eve my best friend just fell to the ground in the middle of singing a song at Karaoke. Of course my first thought was alcohol but he had only five beers- and this guy is a professional drinker. We are still not sure what happened- maybe blood pressure dropped? All I know is that was such a scary moment for me I can only imagine what you went through!
So . . . I should watch “Dance Moms”? Because I was considering it but figured I’d hate the instructor too much.
So I had intentionally not watched Dance Moms all season long because I thought it was going to be like Toddlers and Tiaras, which I just can’t stomach, but it’s actually much more like a Real Housewives show, IMO. Personally, I hate the moms a lot more than the instructor, so now you HAVE to watch it so I can know where you weigh in.