Fun Trumps Fevers

Does this look like the face of a sick child to you? I am sure hoping not -- at least by tomorrow. Thayer started running fever after school yesterday and continued into the night. There have been no other symptoms thus far, and, as far as my naked eye assisted by a flashlight can see, there are no red or white patches, sores, etc. on the back of his throat or tonsils. He tried to spike again at 12:30 this afternoon, but he only hit 100. Then, just before bed tonight, he hit 99.6. I'm optimistic we're on the up and up.
I tried very hard today to make his time at home not so fun, filling his time with last night's homework and make-up work that we collected from his teacher today. However, by about 3:30, I was just flatout exhausted and the hard work of teaching at home just had to come to a close -- at least for a few hours. So, we took a "field trip" to Petsmart for dog food purchasing and animal viewing. Quite interesting! Did you know there is such a creature as a "Dumbo Rat?" It really does have ears disproportionate to its size. I'm not one for rodents, but the head of that thing is kind of cute. Anyway, we finished our day with pizza at Uncle Walker's and playing for a few minutes on the Hammonds Ferry playground.
So, as a closing thought: my plan did work. Once we got home, Thayer said he hoped to be able to go to school tomorrow and he missed going to PE. I guess a little fun doesn't hurt sometimes! We all needed its medicinal value today.
How do you handle sick days? Any suggestions for getting boys to do their homework?