You really have three options here. One, you can turn the kids loose and let them wreak havoc all day, which isn’t really recommended for the obvious reason that it won’t help your recovery much. Two, you can let them off schoolwork for the day, but instruct them on running the household while you are out of commission and three, you can have them settle in and work on their own.

Now, it really is in your best interest if you can get your children to the point of being able to teach themselves, at least for one day. While many curriculums require teaching every step of the way, with others you can set up the workbooks so that the kids can do their work with minimal input from you. This is actually very beneficial even if you aren’t sick, since it lets you look after the baby, make lunch or deal with any myriad of issues that pop up on a daily basis without interrupting school.

There’s nothing wrong with taking this opportunity to make your kids a bit more self sufficient, either. Instead of schoolwork, have them do the daily chores, make their own meals and deal with other household issues throughout the day. They’ll feel they’re getting the day off and you’ll know they’re picking up valuable skills for the future.

What do you do on sick days?