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Lice. Yes, that happened

Old 04-27-2015, 03:09 AM
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Lice. Yes, that happened

Yesterday morning at the breakfast table, my daughter again complained of an itchy scalp. We kept telling her it was dry, as we over shampoo daily since we got the notice that lice were in her class.

Seems lice love shiny clean hair. She came over, I inspected it, and indeed, saw critters in her hair. I had never seen them, and went ashen. My husband was preparing for a golf trip, and I dashed out the door to buy the necessary de-lousing gear. 90.42 dollars later, I worked on all of us. Washed eight loads of laundry, vacuumed all upholstery, quarantined twenty some odd stuffed animals, bleached pretty much everything. Then went again to the task of steel combing her hair half inch by half inch.

And it wasn't horrible, because I was sober. I am finally treating mental health issues appropriately. There was morbid humor instead of hungover panic. I saw my husband off, and handled this trial of parenthood with the tribulation of managing things correctly. Lousy life on life's terms.

Just wanted to share. It is a good morning. Kids are asleep in freshly washed beds, all clothes are laundered and folded, breakfast is already made, and I am sharing with my favorite (albeit faceless) crowd of people.

Make it a good day friends.
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Old 04-27-2015, 03:11 AM
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Better than what I had once.
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Old 04-27-2015, 03:12 AM
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I battled them too, when the girls were in grade school. Yuck. It was a lot of work washing everything and treating everyone. And my one girl had long hair so combing it was a chore.

Yes, it's one of the trials of life. But better handled sober.
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Old 04-27-2015, 03:20 AM
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lice are common and like clean or dirty hair.... I've had this situation many times with my two girls 4 and 6 and the best way to avoid it( I FOUND ) is to have my girls hair tied up with gel combed through and to be honest kids in there class have had lice and my girls have not gotten them since.... it could be a coincidence but not likely
,,,,,, hope that helps ?
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Old 04-27-2015, 03:20 AM
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Originally Posted by trachemys View Post
Better than what I had once.
I had all manner of parasites when I came back from working in Africa. Didn't understand what people meant when they said, "look down after the toilet." Yuck.
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Old 04-27-2015, 04:19 AM
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Oh god, my daughter had them last year. And I was actively drinking and drunk when I found them. What a sobering moment. I remember putting her to bed and she kept itching at her head. Jokingly I said why are you scratching, do u have nits? (Remember I was already buzzed). Then I decided to have a look. There they were. My face must have gone completely white. The paranoia spread throughout the house in a matter of seconds. I had phantom lice, so did my boyfriend. I did all the right steps but I could have handled the initial shock better had I not been drinking. It was a great excuse to drink every night for 2 weeks. I had to drink after combing through her hair. Lice stressed me out.

Jennifer
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Old 04-27-2015, 04:32 AM
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Change4good you did well. I taught for 25 years and I can assure you that lice aren't fussy about the hair they reside in, this is not an indicator of not been sufficiently clean.

You don't mention your daughter's age but she or you should check her hair twice a day. If her hair is long I suggest plaiting (braiding) it and pinning the plaits against her head each day for the duration of the lice infestation.
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Old 04-27-2015, 04:33 AM
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Originally Posted by savarna View Post
lice are common and like clean or dirty hair.... I've had this situation many times with my two girls 4 and 6 and the best way to avoid it( I FOUND ) is to have my girls hair tied up with gel combed through and to be honest kids in there class have had lice and my girls have not gotten them since.... it could be a coincidence but not likely
,,,,,, hope that helps ?
Yes, does help. I let my daughter pick only one stuffed animal to sleep with. (and then treated the hell out of it.) Dang, it was like Sophie's Choice.
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Old 04-27-2015, 05:02 AM
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My kids had it so many times while they were in daycare! It used to be the bane of my existence! Once I pulled them out of daycare they have never had it again I used to have to do weekly lice checks and I kept their hair as short as I could... didn't matter they would get it anyways.

Just talking about it is making me itch lol

Good luck! Have you heard of tea tree oil? Put some in the shampoo and some in your kids hair... it a natural deterrent for lice. I used to use it with the treatments from the pharmacy.
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Old 04-27-2015, 05:33 AM
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Every year. Middle daughter (grade school) is super susceptible with fine straight hair and she is very clean and they soo love clean. Her school every year..Older daughter had a report from a sleep-over a month ago.... Kills our house with 4 girls (I buzzcut). Kudos for gittin-er-dun sober. I've done it twice in the last year and and the laundry alone is 10 hrs.
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Old 04-27-2015, 06:21 AM
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Originally Posted by least View Post
I battled them too, when the girls were in grade school. Yuck. It was a lot of work washing everything and treating everyone. And my one girl had long hair so combing it was a chore.

Yes, it's one of the trials of life. But better handled sober.
This
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Old 04-27-2015, 06:30 AM
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I understand what your family has been though. My wife taught kindergarten and now teaches third grade.

You handled a tough job sober while keeping your cool. Way to go.

MM
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Old 04-27-2015, 08:23 AM
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I think lice are so common now, especially in urban schools. They are a pain to get rid of, but it sounds like you've been working on that. Hopefully it will clear up for good.
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Old 04-27-2015, 08:37 AM
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Thanks for the great post. Only in sobriety can one write "I ... saw critters in her hair" and "It is a great morning" in the same post.

Seriously. I am amazed at how much of life's crud that I am able to handle, often with efficiency and good nature, now that I am sober. Makes me wonder why anyone would want to go through life anything BUT sober.
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Old 04-27-2015, 11:28 AM
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My niece brought some over a year ago. It was miserable. I tried everything: oil, tea tree, heat (curling iron and hairdryer) - you name it. The only thing that worked was combing them out with this thing:

http://www.amazon.com/Nit-Free-Termi.../dp/B000HIBPV8

We also used a microscope to confirm anything we thought might be a nit. Sometimes when we thought we had got them all, there was a nit egg that showed up on the scope.

They were stubborn! The worst part is that my brother-in-law kept bringing over my niece while she still had lice. It kept coming back. Even though we would see many, many nits in her (dark) hair, he refused to have her treated and ignored the problem. Crazy-making situation.

Oh - lice are gross, but they are even grosser when you see them wiggling with a belly full of your blood under a scope.

Great job dealing with that sober! Lice are really tough.
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Old 04-27-2015, 11:29 AM
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Originally Posted by firstymer View Post
Thanks for the great post. Only in sobriety can one write "I ... saw critters in her hair" and "It is a great morning" in the same post.
^^^^Yes!
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Old 04-27-2015, 11:34 AM
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While a big pain, kids getting lice is par for the course these days, even in affluent communities. Where I live they have special hair salons just for lice so you don't even have to delouse your family members yourself. I know, we're pretty lazy. But good job on not letting it knock you down!
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