Nit Picking

So the long and short of it is that Ethan picked up a case of head lice in summer school. Hubby and Sophia got head lice as well. Isaiah hates having his head touched so I don't know if he really had any head lice but I treated his hair anyway. I treated myself as well but I didn't find anything in my hair when I combed it out. So far I seem to be the only one who didn't have any lice.

For kids who are terrified of having their hair combed having head lice is a real nightmare. It took hubby and me to comb most of the nits out of Ethan's hair on Wednesday night. Then on Thursday morning I literally had to wrestle Ethan to the floor in order to cut his hair. He had a lot of hair and I know I hadn't gotten all of the nits (eggs). I managed to do Isaiah's hair by myself because even though he resists having his hair combed he doesn't resist quite as strongly as Ethan does. Both boys screamed bloody murder the entire time. Ethan actually says "wah" when he cries. Isaiah kept wailing "ow." Nothing hubby or I said calmed them down. I'm not looking forward to having to do this again in seven days or so which is when it says to repeat treatment in the instructions that came with the head lice kit.

Sophia was a little less of a challenge but not by much. She's smaller than the boys and not quite as terrified of having her hair combed as they are. She sits still to have her hair combed if I bribe her with lots of hair decorations. Still she howled while I combed the nits out of her hair. I would have cut her hair too except that there would be hell to pay from the family if I did. I still might if the lice come back.

Hubby was the only one who didn't give me grief about getting his hair washed and combed out. He's been great with helping me wash nearly everything we own. I spent all of yesterday washing everything that the kids have come into contact with for the last two weeks. The stuff that I can't wash I've been spraying like crazy. I've still got stuff to go wash this morning. All of our combs, brushes, and hair decorations have been cooling out in the freezer since Thursday as well.

So that's my life right now and it sucks but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Comments

  1. I remember! The day before my mother-in-law's funeral we discovered my daughter had MANY head lice. We were not even at home, we were in Chicago.

    The Rid didn't do the trick, what eventually did was to let mayonnaise sit for a while (actually what seemed like a long while), followed by tea tree oil (I think diluted with olive oil).

    Good luck - I hate lice.

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  2. Ahh.. sheesh.. yeah nightmare.. how you doing? need to vent?? call me... I can imagine my little man was not too happy.. r they giving u dirty looks when you go by?

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  3. Hubby did mention that one of the reasons for choosing oil for anointing in the ancient world was because it helped to do away with head lice. Probably by smothering the adults and eggs.

    And yes the kids have started eying me if I get too close to their heads.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jeez....
    Good luck with the lice. Burning things is old school and one I'd go with.

    The rough thing is if you have carpet in the house...

    ReplyDelete

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