Building Resistance
After tipping myself out of bed at 6:30 this morning, having a shower, putting some coffee on, and cooking a round of bacon sandwiches for the kids, I wondered why Miss 18 had not shown her face.
She is off work again. Conjunctivitis this time. This is apparently the penalty of working with small children – she just started her first job as an apprentice at a pre-school. I think this morning she was worried about calling in sick again, until her supervisor started laughing, and told her to expect to be continually sick for the first few weeks.
I remember when the children were at infant and primary school, we were routinely sick for several weeks each year – catching colds, coughs, and so on. Of course you don't get to have any time off at home, so you just soldier on – squirting 'first defence' up your nose, taking tablets until you rattle, and forcing down orange juice, chicken soup, and whatever other supposedly helpful substances you can dream up.
I just checked the calendar at work – I've had one day off sick in the last year. The year before that I had two days off sick. I'm not sure if I just don't get sick very often any more, or if I'm better than most at just carrying on regardless. It's that whole 'putting one foot in front of the other, and keeping doing it' thing, isn't it.