I am having trouble getting motivated today.
I squeezed in a haircut after three loads of laundry and a sink full of dishes. Let that be amended to show that I WASHED a sink full of dishes. I did not FILL a sink full of dishes. And...that's about it. Guess I won't be getting the Most Productive Wife Award today after all.
The upcoming week is...get ready for it...A FIVE DAY WEEK! I know. I could hardly stifle my own scream as I typed that. You see, we've been spoiled with a Friday off after conferences, and a Monday snow day, and a Friday and Monday for Easter break. NOW WE MUST FACE A FULL WEEK OF WORK! Sorry. You might want to put in some earplugs before I'm done.
It's a necessary evil. State testing starts this week. My subject still has two weeks to prepare. So I can't really use my personal day that will evaporate if not used by the end of the year. Perhaps I can squeeze it in after testing and before the end-of-the-year flurry of activity.
We still have a day off to look forward to on April 26th. And a half-day for the school carnival on May 3rd. Then there's just two weeks of school left. I'm running out of school before I can run out of benefit days! THE HORROR! Those are part of my contract, you know. I still have four sick days left as well. At the beginning of next year, my total reverts to 100 days. We can't accumulate them over 100. Do you realize that is $7500 worth of time? Not for me, of course. That's what it would cost the district to pay a substitute to work all of those days. However...they're only worth $2000 to me when I retire. That hardly seems fair, huh? I drag myself to school throughout my career, even when sick, in the best interests of the students, and when the old workhorse is ready to plod out to pasture, she's only worth about a fourth of what a substitute is worth. On the Mother Teresa side, though, I've saved the district a minimum of $5500. Not counting days that evaporate because they don't carry over.
My teaching buddy, Mabel, used to tell me to stay home. "You're sick. You need to get better. Those kids will be fine without you for a day or two. Don't be miserable. When you die, people are NOT going to say, 'That Mrs. Hillbilly Mom! She came to work every day, even when she was sick.' Nope. They're going to say, 'Who's Mrs. Hillbilly Mom?' "
Good ol' Mabel. Always there for a reality check.
6 comments:
When I'm sick, I always go into work (unless both ends are acting up simultaneously) because I KNOW where I got the cold/germ.
After all, it's better to give than it is to receive...
Dear HB Mom,
Sometimes reality kicks a person in the ...My friend and I retired in 2007. Why? because we could earn more $ working 1/2 time than full-time. Doesn't make sense, but that was the way it was. So we shared a teaching position for four years. Our only benefit was 1/2 a sick day per month. During these four years she became sick and my father went through chemo treatments. Often we switched working days to accomodate each other, so we would not need to use the days. When we were sent home in 6/11, we were informed we would lose the sick days we had accumlated during this time because they were "suppose to have been used each year." She lost 20 and I lost 15. Never were we told this. I live in middle TN. Retire when you can---I LOVE retirement even though my parents need my help often.
Ack. I remember state testing as a student. I hated that week.
You know, it saddens me that society doesn't kill the asses of teachers the way they do with government officials, doctors, lawyers and other high executives. Who gave those jerks the knowledge to be able to do their jobs? TEACHERS.
Sioux,
Indeed. No more harm can come to you. And your workload may lighten for a few days.
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Carol,
Funny how there's that fine print that appears after the fact. I think I can retire after three more years. Gotta get my Pony graduated. I refuse to send him to school in the district where we live. I value his education.
*********
Chick,
I'm SURE you mean KISS our butts. Right? Right...? Well, except maybe for Sioux, because she is like a Typhoid Mary, spreading upchuck and anal leakage throughout the hallowed halls of education.
Anal leakage? Do you remember those potato chips that sometimes caused "anal leakage" but alas, are no longer sold. (I think they were called "Wow" potato chips.)
I don't quite know why they're no longer on the market...
Sioux,
That's the first thing I think of when anal leakage rears its ugly head: potato chips.
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