My rule is: If you've had good attendance, and you need a mental health day, I'll probably let you have one. Don't fake sick, because thinking you're sick makes me worry.

If you've had good attendance, and you need a mental health day, I'll probably let you have one.

Had this been applied to me, I would never have attended school on Thursdays. I dreaded and hated PE squaredance day with such a passion that very often I did end up with a stomach ache.

It took me years to get over my dislike of Thursdays in general. Damn Ms. Krauth! (My mom tells me she's still in the business of terrorizing elementary students and generally being an exceedingly unpleasent individual.)

Every now and again I'd fake a sick day and say I had a headache. I knew when I did this I'd get a headache, because that's the sort of fiercely literal kid I was, but sometimes it was just worth it.

I never puked from illness, very rarely got fevers, and still haven't broken a bone. All my illness involved my mother taking it on faith. But when your kid starts getting migraines at 8, I guess you just have to get used to that sort of thing.

I was sick quite a bit when I was a kid, so I always knew what symptoms to push when I wanted a day off. Once I got to fourteen or fifteen though, my parents would just let me have the days when I wanted them. I'm guessing if my grades had started going down they wouldn't have, but by the time I was in my last year I was probably taking a day off a week.

Every now and again I'd fake a sick day and say I had a headache. I knew when I did this I'd get a headache, because that's the sort of fiercely literal kid I was, but sometimes it was just worth it.

This is me too!

I was sick a lot in elementary school, a lot of it from stress. When I faked it, I had a glorious day of tv watching and snack eating while family was gone. WHEE!

Heh. SOmetimes when I was faking sick I'd end up with a high teperature. But getting to stay home in bed with a book and people bringing you things? SO much better than school, sick or not.

There's one gym teacher in particular that I fantasize about hunting down and beating up, now that I'm an adult in reasonable shape and he'd be a tiny weak old guy. It would totally be Karmic Justice.

I got a bad bout of mono in grade 7, so I missed about 1/3 of the school year. Then I was treated with kid gloves by everyone. If I sighed heavily, my mother would be like, "Maybe you should stay home."

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Had this been applied to me, I would never have attended school on Thursdays. I dreaded and hated PE squaredance day with such a passion that very often I did end up with a stomach ache.

That's where my "probably" comes in. So far, everyone loves gym, but if I know something is coming up that someone would rather avoid (test, project deadline, etc.), I'm frank with them about why I'm saying no. It's hardly been an issue yet, because everyone loves school, which is both why I can do it, in the first place, and why I am doing it. I want to keep them in love with school for as long as I can, and so I figure if I let them not-love it honestly, from time to time, they'll feel less pressure.

By the by, I'm in the corner with the people who would fake sick and then feel the sickness I faked, all day.