It was 12:30pm on Thursday when my phone rang and the school’s name and number popped up on my phone. I see that number nearly EVERY Tuesday and Thursday at 8am as very quickly realize I have forgotten to send in COVID papers that clear them for attending class. But, it was 12:30.
“I have Liam here in the nurse’s office and I’m a little concerned. He fell at recess and his wrist looks a little discolored. Can you come pick him up and take him to urgent care?” she says. Needless to say, I had very much expected him to have COVID symptoms, not a possible broken wrist.
“Of course,” I replied without hesitation, then hung up the phone and raced around grabbing a few things to occupy our time for what could be a long wait (turns out I really only needed Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince :). I jumped in the car and headed to school 5 min away to pick him up. His arm was indeed broken and I had to make an appointment for noon the following day to get a cast on.
A million thoughts ran through my head when I heard his arm was broken (the poor kid literally JUST bought himself a Nintendo Switch with his allowance and money from his birthday the previous day!). It was what DIDN’T go through my head that cemented that I had done the absolute right thing by leaving teaching.
I DIDN’T think about finding a sub. I DIDN’T Think about writing lesson plans. I DIDN’T think about going back into school to make copies and get my room ready for the next day.
Before Leaving Teaching…
I thought about ALL of the things that would have had to happen last year before I could leave (pre-covid). “Let’s see…12:30…it would be PM kindergarten and we would have just gotten settled.”
1. Someone would have had to be found to cover my class
2. I would have had to quickly think through my afternoon, spending some precious time while my son waited at school. I didn’t want to miss any of the 10+ things slated in the short 2.5 hours of school. Then tell it to the person who was covering my room, as well as where all of the materials were kept and what some of the basic routines were. (In one of my schools, the other kindergarten teacher was going to get double the class for the rest of the afternoon)
3. I would spend a few minutes sitting down and telling my class that my son’s school had called and that I would be leaving and may not be back the next day.
4. When finally able to go (30-40 min later if I was lucky), I would grab my things, drive over to school; my mind flitting over writing the dreaded plans for the following day. HOW I could come back in to make the copies and get the room ready? Would I have to contact a colleague to make the copies for me? As a single mom, it would most likely be the latter.
One way or another, even BEFORE covid, being out the next day was going to be difficult. 99% of the time I found it much easier to fight through the day sick, hopped up on coffee, pseudoephedrine and Tylenol, than to call in sick.
If I were still teaching THIS year, so many more factors would have had to come into play. I may have even have had to ask my parents (who are over 65 with underlying health conditions) to take my son to the urgent care for me. Yes, I know, we were screened and suspected COVID patients are sent elsewhere, but there are 100% people sitting in the URGENT CARE with covid.
What’s Your Why?
I had a completely different post planned for “finding your why”, but I couldn’t ignore the starkness of this “teachable moment”. This is why I wanted to be home. This is why I quit teaching and chose to start a small business.
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