I am participating in the March Slice of Life Challenge: A slice a day for all of March.  You should do it too!  Thank you, Two Writing Teachers! Readers, check out their site, and start slicing!

All day a voice in the back of my head has told me that E is not feeling good enough to go to school tomorrow. Maybe it’s his puffy face, his slow walk, or his pink-is-it-a-rash? face. It could be how hard it has been to wake him up in the morning, how many times he stopped playing and just sat on the couch, almost napping. But, I think it’s mostly the way he has walked over to me more than a dozen times, put his head on my shoulder and said, “I  love you, Mama. I just want to snuggle you.” A few times he has been even more dramatic, mouthing “I love you, Mama” from across the room, or saying in a sweet voice, “I love you, Mama. I’ll love you until the day you die, and then even when you’re dead.” Seven year old boys, in my experience, are very specific and honest with their love.

So, after getting him to sleep, all cozy in my bed, I took another look at his sweet, puffy, red-cheeked face. I walked downstairs and I put in for a guest teacher tomorrow.

I feel guilty of course, another day of sub plans, another day away from my classroom… but sometimes a mama has to do what a mama has to do. And I think if you saw E today, you’d understand.