the lousy evening
What adorable children! Sure they’re staring off into space at some video game, but cute! Why are their heads so oddly coifed though?
It’s head lice! And head lice shampoo! And gross!
Seriously, people, ick! This is my first experience with the head bugs and I can’t say I’m very impressed. I’m so squicked-out right now. I had actually thought – the baby years behind us – that I was through with the gross part of parenting. How very wrong I was.
Wish me luck through these bad times. I obviously need it.
It’s head lice! And head lice shampoo! And gross!Seriously, people, ick! This is my first experience with the head bugs and I can’t say I’m very impressed. I’m so squicked-out right now. I had actually thought – the baby years behind us – that I was through with the gross part of parenting. How very wrong I was.
Wish me luck through these bad times. I obviously need it.
posted by queen of the harpies @ 7:54 PM
9 Comments:
At 9:53 PM,
Cataclysm said…
Hey QOTH!
Oh man, every parent goes through it and I was just looking at Rian's beautiful blond curls last week wondering when we would go through it...
Hey, but you can try out Dr. Pearlman's controversial Cetaphil cleanser technique. Remember last year when he tried to patent Cetaphil and sold it re-packaged for like $300 - you put it in the hair, hair-dry it hard and leave it for like 8 hours. Let us know if it works (or what does)... 'cause I just know we're gonna be going through it sometime!
But v v cute pic!!
Kris
At 10:57 PM,
Tammy said…
I've been around my share of cooties, and those are the cutest cootie-ridden kids I've seen in quite some time.
If it makes you feel any better, it could be worse than headlice. It could be RINGWORM. My brother and sister both got it at the same time when I was a kid (it's not common, but it's not that uncommon, either), and I was terrified of getting it from them. Little worms forming rings the size of QUARTERS under your skin... ewwwww!
At 7:56 AM,
queen of the harpies said…
Okay, it’s official – kids are disgusting, parasite attractors and that’s all there is to it.
When we went to the pharmacist I inquired about the cetaphil method. She pretty much said that we could try that if we wanted to, but we should expect “limited success”. If I’d read that exchange, I would have rolled my eyes and muttered something about the medical establishment, but as I was clutching the counter weakly after having just been shown (all too vividly!) how to identify “crawling” lice, I was all for chemical saturation.
So far, so good – the sheets, towels, and clothes have all been washed. The pillows and stuffed animals are in garbage bag quarantine, and my kids have been effectively deloused. Ulysses and I keep nervously checking one another’s hair, but we don’t seem to be turning up any bugs.
FYI for the curious – there’s a picture of me up on my blog right now. It’s a picture of me when I’m both dirty and scowling, but all of my facial features are visible.
At 8:14 AM,
Melissa said…
Aw, no wonder your kids are so cute! They look just like you.
I'm dreading this stage too, just like I'm dreading the day I walk in to find A has taken off her diaper and is finger-painting with her poop. I know from my friends' stories that these things happen so I try to prepare myself, but...ick. I don't blame you for being grossed out.
At 9:45 AM,
queen of the harpies said…
Aw, thanks! Tell me honestly – do you think 32’s getting too old for a nose ring?
You know, you’re going to have to deal with the poo. You’re going to be totally amazed at how entirely unshaken you are about it too. Because look at Nile! He’s too adorable to be gross!
At 11:23 AM,
Craftygrrrl said…
Years ago when the lice cooties were making their rounds at my public school my mum simply cut back washing our hair to once every week and a half till it was over. Apparently lice like a nice clean home...who knew they were OCD?!
If your kidletts have long hair try to keep it braided up while they are out and about, it helps hide that it hasn't been washed in a bit. Oh the memories of classmates having their long locks chopped off in an attempt to keep the cooties at bay...
At 12:58 PM,
queen of the harpies said…
Good tips! I’ll braid Mia up for camp tomorrow, but the boy will have to go shaggy.
At 6:20 PM,
... said…
Oh jeeze louize, we went thru this last year and I swear it nearly did me in. I have MAJOR bug issues.
Finn's daycare cautioned against using chemicals and suggested using tea-tree oil conditioner and a comb. I'm sorry...but that didn't seem nearly drastic enough. We went the chemical route and vowed that I would feed her nothing but organic food for the rest of her life to make up with it.
I put her hair in tight ponytails and made her promise not to tell anyone. Big mistake. It's way more fun to tell people things that horrify your mom.
I developed a nervous twitch that felt a whole helluva lot like bugs crawling on my head. I vacuumed everything I could and stuffed all fabric items that would fit into the dryer.
Somehow we survived. In a couple of days she was nit and lice-free. I congratulated myself. And then she got it again. Horrors. I wanted to move someplace very arid.
I'm Scottish and I burn easily so instead, I decided to give Finn a healthy phobia against sharing hats, headphones and all 'round head touching. A girl in her class had her head shaved and that was incentive enough. Note, that I never actually threatened to shave her head! I just didn't go out of my way to say I wouldnt.
Anyhoo, what was my point? Oh yeah, I thought I'd die and I didn't. I went from gagging and scratching compulsively at phantom lice to nimbly picking nits from Finn's hair while we watched a movie. I'm pleased as punch to report she's had nary an infestation since.
Go light at the end of the tunnel!
At 8:20 PM,
landismom said…
Oh yuck! I feel for you.
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