A few days ago the letter came home that head lice was discovered in my son's classroom. I get this notice every year. And every year I disregard it. I take the "it won't be my kid" stance and continue about my day.
I'm pretty sure I even used the back of the "Lice Letter" as scrap paper for the munchkins. Far be it from me to waste good scrap paper.
This afternoon, the school nurse called. I'm always eager to hear which munchkin is currently in "holding" and what the ailment is. I like to speed guess in my head as she starts the , "Hi, this is the school nurse calling..."
LLG looked pale this morning...no, maybe Sports Fanatic fell during recess football...
"We have your daughter here..."
Gymnastics Queen? Please don't be vomit...she takes forever to kick that bug...I wonder if....ah man, did she just say LICE?!?!
"You'll have to come pick her up and treat her for lice. It's not serious, but we did find the nits..."
Nits?!?!
In my ten years of motherhood I've never had to deal with nits, lice, Rid or seven hundred million loads of laundry awaiting a hot soak in the machine.
There is always a first time for everything. And, if any of my munchkins were susceptible to bring home lice, it would be the one with hair to her waist.
I'm blessed to have a darling friend, "Miss Maria", who takes things in stride like I do. She came to the nit rescue, arriving at my house armed with lice removal supplies. We lathered the medicated shampoo, rinsed thoroughly and untangled my daughter's gorgeous head of waist long hair.
This was just the beginning.
We sat her in a chair where the sun shines through the window, and examined her scalp. With a super fancy "nit removal" comb, we got to work. We combed. And combed. And combed until every little egg was extracted and left to die.
Here is my daughter inquiring about the tool we were about to use to remove nits from her head. Forgive the picture quality, the cell was all I had on hand to capture the memories.
After two hours, the lice were running for their lives. We showed them no mercy.
Once her scalp was clear, I sent her to shower and Miss Maria left to examine her daughter for lice. The girls had just had a sleepover a few days before. Isn't that always how the cookie crumbles?
I then spent my afternoon washing every pillowcase, bedsheet and comforter in the house. I vacuumed the couches, pillows and the floors. I boiled combs, brushes and clips.
And right before the school bus pulled up to deliver my lice-free offspring, the phone rang. It was one of my daughter's classmates. This friend was not at school today. The next thing I heard was my daughter sharing, "I have lice too!"
Good to know I wasn't the only parent combing nits this afternoon.
I shall spend the next week checking all my munchkins for lice every morning, and giving my daughter a follow up treatment in ten days.
Lice are a part of life. I'm sharing our experience because I thought it would never be our house dealing with lice. But it happens. No sense hiding or pretending or trying to find the source. As with everything, we deal with it and move on.
And if you can laugh through the lathering, combing and house cleansing it's not so bad. It's even better if you can find a friend to share in the experience.
Thanks Miss Maria. I think all the head lice have officially abandoned ship.
Wishing all my lovely readers a fab, lice free weekend.
(You can stop itching your scalp now.)
For more information on head lice, click here.
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