Wednesday, January 20, 2010

A Rite of Passage for kids, though not one I'd sign up to celebrate, it could be worse...


Second only in communicablity to the common cold is... lice. Apparently, we were the only guests at the hotel this weekend.

Caleb called to me this morning and said his head itched and he saw white things. Not taking him at his word precisely, I performed my own examination fully expecting dandruff and a need for extra water or conditioner. I was a bit disturbed to find...lice. Being a born "nit-picker", I looked his entire head over and killed all live ones. Then I examined Jockey, and found a few more and killed those too. This determined the rest of my day. Despite the beautiful sunshine and park playing possibities... We had a new priority.

I now know at least 5 more facts about lice now, than I did yesterday.

1- The lice do not have wings... no flying.
2- The lice do not have back legs (like grasshoppers).... no jumping. (Thus takes direct contact with head or items that have touched the head)
3- The lice will die in 24 hours without human blood.
4- Lice do not live/feed on pets because the pets are not humans.
5- Lice lay 3-4 eggs a day.
6-Hot water and a Hot Dryer are good enough for washables.
7- A good vaccumming is good for non-washables.
8- Lastly and surprisingly, there is a debate on the effectiveness of all products, shampoos and sprays, other than the comb.

As for me and my house, pesticide shampoo is the way we went, because the little bugs can transfer or fall while being combed out and I'd rather them be dead if my older eyes miss one that falls prey to gravity.

So I have discovered, diagnosed, treated and combed each boy. Phew, the hardest part was making them hold still for 45-50 minutes for the meticulous combing process. And Thank GOD they are boys and have short hair!!!
Mike and I both check out as clear, but the washing, sterilizing, vaccuming ensues to make sure there are none to transfer to us or back to the boys.

The Lice War is not a difficult war (as yet), but a great many loads of laundry.

So onward... (and I'll be calling the hotel.)

1 comment:

Mom Bishop said...

Oh, how I remember those days. It was two hours before your cousin's wedding and you were scratching away. I looked at your head and cringed when I saw the lice legs wiggle upon being disturbed. So, before the wedding, we made a mad dash to FM and got the "pesticide". You and your brother got the most detailed combing and nit-picking ever. Two days later, the house was cleaner than it had been in months. Now those are fond memories...Ha!