right down to the real nitty gritty

I was writing a post last night, with real words and no pictures of my kids when my daughter complained, again, that her head itches. She of the allergies, she of the eczema - I paid her no mind.

She sat, making frumpy faces at me until I took her upstairs to my bathroom to inspect the rash.

Oh. My. Louse. Was I in for a surprise.

I cringed and fretted and felt like such a bum when I realized my sweet girl had lice.

I'm still cringing.

She was a trooper today, reassuring me that her body book explained what was happening, while I vacuumed, and washed mountains of laundry.

(Paranoia, big destroyer.)

I washed her new Pat the Bunny and sent the other 467 stuffed animals in her bed on a little vacation, by way of Hefty Hefty Hefty.

I expected her to cry and carry on. (Oh, wait. That was me.) Instead she drank her tea, watched her Buffy and even did some homework while I spent four hours grooming her very thick hair.

I'm still mortified, to be sure, and I thought about keeping this little incident to myself. I'm just too tired to finish that other post, before Mr. Bug came to town.

Comments

Mrs. G. said…
Rotton luck. I hope you wiped them all out. I've heard tea tree shampoo helps repell them.
Oh, we did. The stuff we used had anise oil in it, so somehow it didn't smell so bad.

I think we'll all use tea tree shampoo until this time passes at school.
katydidnot said…
you are the very bravest mommy i know. i think you're totally cool. i'm sorry though, too. bummer for you guys.
Jennifer S said…
We've dodged it so far, but a lot of kids in my daughter's class had them. (I'm furiously knocking on wood right now.) Would the tea tree shampoo work as a preventative, then? I might have to get some.

That can't be any fun. Good luck.
J said…
If it helps you feel any better my hairdresser said that lice love healthy clean hair. ( Meaning no one should think that you or your daughter is dirty because she got lice.) So, it may actually be a compliment to how neat and tidy you keep your children....right? I suppose I didn't really help here, but hell, I tried.
K. said…
Most of us have been there, girl, don't sweat it. It's exhausting, but not a mark against you. In fact I'm pretty sure it's in the requirements to qualify for your veteran Mom bug killer badge. I'll have to check.
lapoflux said…
Poor Lexi - and you!
We've had a few close calls at daycare and nursery school but so far no nits.
I have also heard that they only like clean hair - if it helps at all!
Happy combing!!
Beck said…
Lice are so blecky. My Girl had then back when she had thick waist-length hair.
Spagirl said…
What a total bummer! The difficult part is that Lexi's hair is so thick and dark. Is it going around at school or was it just luck of the draw? I'm sorry!!!
Anonymous said…
why can't they invent something like FRONTLINE for kids...just put the chemicals into the bloodstream via their scalp and it kills all the bugs...
Anonymous said…
I think my head is starting to itch...

-Stu
Anonymous said…
Oh, what a mess. Why do we only discover this at night... when we're so tired, and then, we have all that laundry to do!!! Bless you.
GAH!! I would have been in the driveway setting fire to everything that wasn't nailed down.
Do not keep it to yourself! That's how she'll get it again. Tell the school, tell the sports team, tell everyone.

I have been there/done that once before. It came back 4 times because it wasn't eradicated in all the kids my kids came in contact with.

The joke became that I was the "Lice Principal" of the school. Just like the Vice Principal, but so not!
Daisy said…
Blech!!! I'm so sorry to hear this! We haven't had any lice yet on our kiddos and I'm glad to read from your other comments that they like clean hair. No showers for my kids for a WEEK! :-)
JCK said…
Oh..man, that sounds rough. And exhausting! Especially after you've been sick.
Oh, you have my sympathies. We had it once. There is NOTHING WORSE EVER. Period. Scarlett had the bugs. Worst thing ever. Comb, comb, comb. The thing we finally did was have her sleep with mayo on her head every night for two weeks. That poor thing. I think my reaction scared the kids so much they would do anything I commanded.

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