To have called in sick in order to sort things (house) out?

[goandhohoho]

It’s probably too late as I’ve done it now and it’s more complex than the title indicates.

I actually don’t think I am very well. I have terrible insomnia - was woken at around midnight last night and I just couldn’t get back to sleep. I eventually did so at around 5 but then had to get up at half six.

I have two very young children - one is 3 and the other is seventeen months. I am frantically trying to meet their needs, keep the house in some semblance of order, work myself and spin all the plates and I can’t. The house is a mess and it feels like no matter how much I clean and tidy it, it is a mess.

So I rang in sick today. Not a total lie but equally not really the truth. I don’t know if it was reasonable or not.

We all need a day off sometimes, you have a valid reason. I have insomnia and it can be brutal. Also having things like a messy house can exacerbate situations and being able to sort it out can help you mentally. You did nothing wrong. I hope things pick up for you.

If I was your manager and you told me you'd only had 1.5 hours sleep I'd be telling you to take the day off to sleep.

I think really you are stressed and overwhelmed. Maybe you just need a day to reset. A previous employer had duvet days. So you’d take the day off randomly, no questions asked, and it’d be deducted from your annual leave.

Can your employer replace you immediately if you quit your job today? Probably. So you owe them nothing. No one is going to die because you called in sick, it's fine.

Having a day to get some shit together and rest is exactly what you need, then you'll be working better when you go back.

This is where flexi-time is great - you can work an hour longer 9 days a fortnight & then book a day off, because you've worked your 75 hours already.

What does your husband do to contribute to children and house?

Lol!

No no no no no. It is not "feeble" to put your mental health first. If more people had mental health days off work occasionally, it would avoid extended absences further down the line when things spiralled out of control.

How dare you come on here and call someone's struggles feeble. That's atrocious.

I think you're probably under stress and you're starting to groan under the strain of everything. In all honesty, I'd be wondering if I needed a few days off to get my life into a better place, but importantly, getting yourself into a better place too as you need to take care of yourself to ensure everything that relies on you are supported well by you being well.
Winter vomiting bug is pretty rife at the moment 😉

I did the same thing for the first time yesterday! First sick day in years but I just couldn’t face leaving my toddler. Up all night every time he coughed (asthma, much worse in cold weather) and worrying in between. Spent the day making Christmas cards, drinking hot chocolate and tidying the house. No regrets! ✊

It's a funny one, because you're obviously wrung out and stressed with too little sleep. Sounds like you're on one extreme end of that, so probably a good idea to take a day off. But loads of people are over-busy to a far lesser extent who probably should instead keep on going.

What can you do to simplify life? Part time, or a cleaner might not be affordable, but maybe streamline kids activities, or simplify the house, or declutter, have a lower key Christmas, whatever.