Lice is a Four Letter Word

Really, need I say more? This is the second time we are dealing with lice this school year. And it has been an ongoing problem in the classroom all year. It has been six months since the first incident so we know this is an entirely new case, but in reality they could all be connected if it just kept getting passed around and made its way back to my daughter. Uggh. And then I find out this time that my daugher is sitting right next to a girl (and oh, by the way they are best buds right now) who actually had to be treated at school because it wasn't being taken care of at home.

Things I feel... whether it is rational or not.

1. Sick to my stomach (sometimes)... not because it grosses me out, but because of the stress.
2. Stress. I think the stress comes from feeling pressure that it is all on me to get the lice and nits off her head. My husband helps with the cleaning and taking care of the other kids, but it is up to me to erradicate it! And what if I miss one?
3. Worried... that I will get it and then who will treat me, and go through my hair as painstakingly as I am going through my daughter's hair? It's not that I don't trust my husband.  I just can't see him doing it.
4. Angry. At the school for not better informing the other parents of kids in our classroom. The first sentence of the letter they send home states "There have been isolated cases of head lice this year in different classrooms." If I read this, but hadn't experienced head lice myself, I would probably ignore it. The letter needs to say there are cases of head lice in YOUR child's class NOW!
5. Helpless. The thing that gets me is that while I am working hard to get rid of the lice on my daughter's head she could so easily pick it right back up in class.

I hate having to tell my daugher not to hug her friends or lean in close to whisper a secret. I hate to see her self esteem in the dumps as we work our way through this. I hate to tell her she can't hug her little brother until we know it is all gone. I hate that my husband thinks I'm weak (for above mentioned feelings) when I am usually fairly strong. I hate head checks. I hate lice.

The good news is that we beat it last time, and we can do it again.

A good website for information on head lice is www.headlice.org run by The National Pediculosis Association.

If we lived in the Seattle area (although I am not too far away) I would seriously consider going to a salon that specializes in head lice removal. Lice Knowing You has five locations so it must be a pretty lucrative business. They have a lifetime guarantee but you have to go back for a monthly check to keep it valid. If we lived close enough to go back for the monthly checks I would be all over this.