I know that most of you know exactly what I mean when I say that when I picked up my daughter from school today I had an immediate sense that we had some sick days coming our way.

First of all, she took a nap there, which almost never happens. This means she was exhausted to the point of not feeling well enough to keep herself awake. She was also less cheerful than usual and refused her favorite snack in the car, which immediately struck me as odd. But mostly it was her eyes — they seemed glassy, you know, the kind of glassy a kid gets as they are getting sick?

We came home, my daughter went to read books with our babysitter, and I literally skipped steps to rush upstairs to my computer. First order of business was to email the ever-helpful husband to see if he could go in late tomorrow. (Answer is yes, which is great.) Second order of business was to create a quick list of things I MUST get done by end of day today given that my workday tomorrow will be a few hours long, if my gut feeling is right.

Of course as I was writing my list I realized that I feel a bit off and my throat is itchy and my body is a bit achy. I did manage to go to spinning this morning, so that would explain the achy part, but still, things feel off. 3 packs of Emergen-C later, I am crossing my toes (I can’t cross my fingers, they are getting the must-do tasks done) that I am at least wrong about one of us being sick.

I feel like a veteran working mom right now, who, like an experienced spy, senses sick days coming and utilizes all of her tools to try to and avoid complete chaos when they arrive. It’s definitely a skill I’ve developed as my daughter has grown and the pattern has become familiar. To tell you that it always works to prevent chaos is a complete lie — tomorrow something will happen that will require my attention at the same exact time as my sick daughter will need me. It’s inevitable.

But still, I am trying hard to prevent chaos and to get ready for what I feel is inevitable. If I had a boss, I am sure I’d be writing her an email right this very minute to say that the chances of my coming into work tomorrow are slim. (Hey, boss, are you reading this?) I am also going to make tomorrow’s dinner tonight (I am making this, for the second time, and it’s so easy and so good) to save time and will ask my husband to go to the store to make sure we have extra medicine.

Do you try to prepare for sick days when you sense them coming? Anything else I should be doing? Does this help you juggle or do you feel like sick days will wreak havoc no matter what?