Friday, January 8, 2010

My new full-time job

De-lousing.

Between coming up with a strategy, going to the store, consulting with pharmacists,and researching online I've been doing little else today.

Connor was so upset that we were keeping Scott home that I decided I'd keep him home as well and subject him to the same treatment Scott was going to get (again).  With product that might loosen the eggs.  Just as well, since product flushed out some live bodies that had escaped detection when I'd run a prior search.

Makes me nervous about myself.  I had Gary check me, once the day before, and once yesterday.  He'd watched me combing Scott, so he knew what to look for.  I looked his scalp over too and found nothing on him.

I've got a long queue of piled up sheets, blankets, and pillowcases.  Bowls filled with boiling water, combs, and hair clips.  And that's not mentioning the pile of clean stuff I haven't processed and put away yet.

I feel just plain Beat Up.  Too tired to even get up and make myself a drink; something stiff and strong.  Lavender Luz, will you come over and make me a mojito?  Or Ailey, could you come make me a marguerita?

5 comments:

Lori Lavender Luz said...

Hey. Just because I like "L" things does not mean I'm gonna pick up the comb ;-).

Kidding. If there were any way I could deliver a mojito to you, I would. More than anyone else in my life this week, YOU DESERVE IT.

What a lousy week, for sure. Oh, and you had a misplaced comma. Not to nit-pick or anything.

BaDUMbum.

Maude Lynn said...

Yikes! I've been through that, and it is a nightmare!

Unknown said...

When we were going through this, I spent about as much time researching children’s WIGS as I did researching delousing treatments. Somewhere along the way you begin to think it’s just not worth it. If the kids had been toddlers, I would have made them bald within a couple days, but it’s harder to make the case for this with adolescents and pre-adolescents.

You’re not alone in your nit-removal woes. Those eggs are GLUED to the hair shaft. The combs never scraped them off for us. The only thing that worked was pulling the hair out, or sometimes scraping it off with a fingernail, and it was simply impossible to get all of them. If you read the American Academy of Pediatrics' recommendations, they’ll point out that “all nits are not created equal!” “In general, nits found more than 1 cm from the scalp are unlikely to be viable…” (unless you live in a very warm climate). The AAP has called for an END to the ridiculous “no nit” policy, and school checks, which often send kids home for things which are not nits, but dandruff or aphids, and the ones that are true nits, never develop anyway. Unfortunately, most PARENTS(!) have rejected the AAP’s recommendations and forced school districts to maintain these policies, which do not work to control lice and make families miserable.

You poor thing--my utmost sympathies. May your morning start with an Irish coffee and your evening end with a Cadillac Margarita. Mojitos work well for rinsing out olive oil, too.

The Geezers said...

Sympathies. I recall going through this with our kids some years ago, and for awhile I didn't think we'd ever get rid of the head lice. Just about the time it seemed over, the school would announce another outbreak, and we'd be back to it all over again.

excavator said...

Oh god don't make me go look for that misplaced comma. Anyone who's been searching children's heads for nits is irresistibly drawn toward some detail like that.

Must....resist....urge