Thanks cj.

I do try very hard... It can be extremely exhausting. I compare it to the first day of the school year but with kids who have a secret party planned!

Luckily, our school now has two contracted subs who earn a full time salary. They are the first two who are called if there are any teachers absent.

Also, one of my own stipulations is that I can not take requests at 5AM, they have to call me and prearrange (this because of my own busy life during the school year!).

In all honesty, the teachers who know ahead of time that they will be out are more organized and are better to work for anyway. Those who call in early in the morning often (not always!) do not have a plan and that is HARD, HARD work for a sub!

Any other ideas? Thanks again to those who have responded.