Cold Season

I have learned a lot about cold season down in 2nd grade. First 2nd graders still do not know how to cover their mouths for the life of them and they will sneeze on anyone within 10 feet, so wherever I am in my classroom if someone sneezes... it will hit me. I have a great class of students but a few stand out to me. I have one student who tells me I am pretty every day... he is so sweet. Today I came in less than pretty with no make-up and my hair already a mess and sure enough there he was telling me I am pretty (some days he uses different adjectives... beautiful, nice, etc... all make me smile)!
ON the other hand the germs don't stop with me, Mario has a cold right now, and despite all of my hand washing and Vitamin C I still have an awful head cold and cough. I can't wait to get a flu shot because 3 of my students have already lost their lunch! One of them multiple times! He is cute every morning I ask him how he is feeling and he tells me awful. Poor kid is never going to get better because the student sitting next to him got the flu too.
Whatever shall I do if I actually catch that. You may think that taking a day off is a good idea... well it is NOT. For a teacher it is harder to stay home than it is to go into work. It is one of the few jobs that you can't just stay home from, you actually have to work to stay home and be sick, and when you go back it is even worse because the classroom is a mess and you generally have to reteach everything that was taught the day before because they were not listening. I always say it is better to go to school and suffer just a little. In conclusion... I have a cold and I love my class!