Stuck at Home Quarantine Journal: I Called in Sick

We are living through a once in a lifetime experience, so I plan to document as much as possible in my Stuck at Home Quarantine Journal!

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I Called in Sick

I knew it was coming. I was sick. Official diagnosis–Teacher-itis.

I just wasn’t feeling the daily quarantine grind. I opened my desk top that I kept shoving the mail and bills into, and it was overflowing. No clue what I paid or what I might have missed. 

Related: Fever stickers are the best thing ever

Opened my planner for household stuff, and felt like I was in a movie, treasure hunting. Blowing dust off the planner like it held ancient secrets. Scared to open it.

The last check off mark was two weeks ago. That can’t be a good sign.

Normally, I am quite obsessive over balancing the checkbook to the penny every Friday, after I send bills out. I opened the app for my account, and at first thought, wow this is great! Then, I remembered… I didn’t pay those bills for two weeks. 

Every time I went to work on the normal household things, one of the kids needed help with classwork. Or a timer was going off that either meant one of them was done silent reading, or there was food that needed to go in or out of the oven. 

I am learning very quickly that if you let their tummies growl more than once, you will not have a moment of peace!

The treatment for Teacher-itis is unconventional and exactly opposite of what is written in the good parent handbook that others quote all the dang time, but I have yet to get my hands on a copy. 

Sometimes You Just Need a Quarantine From Quarantine…

Netflix, Disney+, and free rein over the fridge and cupboards. But you don’t apply that to yourself. You apply to the children. 

Hand it over to them, and let them know if they don’t argue, they can take over the family room and no chores will be due.

You then hunker down with your bills, planners, laptop, phone, drink of choice (no judgement zone), and play your very own Alexa playlist. No Kidz Bop today! 

I started to feel guilty, but then thought of those lovely red letter notices that would be coming if I didn’t send these bills out. Can’t really say I forgot. We have been living in the same house for 15 years and had the same bills pretty much the entire time. 

I had to write emails into the teachers explaining why there were no turned in assignments for the day. Can’t really blame it on an impromptu field trip, since nothing is open. So I told the truth. There is not enough hours in the day. 

The return emails were great. Most of them understood, and knew the kids would catch up just fine.

Now, I won’t lie. There was that one. That one person who I could just imagine sitting at the laptop, looking over small-framed glasses with a frown, and linking articles found on Pinterest about time management. Letting me know that they can understand one time. Oh, and by the way, this person has no children. I can’t eye roll hard enough.

So now when I see teacher-in-service days on the schedule, I don’t picture them color coding calendars and grading assignments. I picture all the teachers balancing checkbooks and frantically scheduling bills. 

I can sit back and sigh in relief, knowing that the lights will stay on and the heat will be here for hot showers. Until we turn in the next set of essays and the desk drawer of mail won’t shut and I feel that itch in my throat.

Teacher-itis.

Fun Things to Do at Home

• Check out these kids education websites offering free subscriptions.
• Help your kids learn how to make bubbles at home!
• My kids are obsessed with these active indoor games.
• These crafts for kids are so fun and easy!
• Learn how to make headbands with buttons.
• Make reading even more fun with this PB kids summer reading challenge. 
• You won’t believe why parents are gluing pennies on shoes.
• Rawr! Here are some of our favorite dinosaur crafts.
• Get kids off technology and back to basics with learning worksheets you can print at home.
• Make being stuck at home fun with our favorite indoor games for kids.
• Have fun coloring our awesome Fortnite coloring pages.
• Make a batch of these Edible Harry Potter Wizard Wands, with this recipe from The Nerd’s Wife, and then have a Harry Potter movie marathon! 
• Your will love these fun halloween games for kids! 

How are you staying at home? Comment below!