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Bet You Didn't Know That There's Such A Thing As A Cool Quiz!
Q. Can you help me come up with a cool quiz?A. I am known as the King of Cool in the realm of the Quiz master. This question is right up my alley!The term cool quiz means different things to different people. As you might imagine, the subject of the quiz ...
Dad, Give Your Kids the “N” Word
What’s your main purpose as a father?Isn’t it to prepare your kids to be happy, healthy, successful people in their own lives?What’s the best way to do this?One effective method of preparing them for their own lives is to give them a heavy dose of the ...
Dem Graduation Invitation Blues...
There’s a little ritual that we all go through this time of year. It begins with the arrival of a fancy envelope in the mail, one that typically has gold bordering or fancy engraving on it. We all look at said envelope, silently groan to ourselves, and ...
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Yes, my kids have had head lice. No, they are not dirty or poorly groomed, nor do they hang out with dirty kids. How these perfectly awful little stinkers found their way into our home was on my older daughters head, courtesy of one of her classmates. As soon as we managed to eradicate the first offense, my younger daughter started scratching her bean, thank you. This went on for six gruesome weeks, passing from one kid to the other. I ran more than 90 loads of laundry, destroying most of our better linens, clothes and comforters by boiling them in the hottest water the washing machine could muster. We sprayed every inch of our home with pediculicide. We washed our hair daily with lice-killing shampoo until we had blisters from the strong poisons needed to try to kill the vermin and their precious eggs. We pulled nits from our daughters long hair for hours at a time, quarantined every stuffed animal and doll with hair for weeks ... all to no avail.
My children were traumatized, I was reduced to a crying, hysterical bug-fearing heap and our 19-year-old cat was tortured by twice-weekly flea baths that he appreciated about as much as a bowl of steamed rice.
Im sorry ... I wish I had an answer, a cure ... some hope to offer. I dont.
After week six of lice-induced panic, we finally set off flea bombs in every room of the house, then fled to my mothers for two hours while the canisters sprayed poison over every inch of our furniture and belongings. Warily, we stepped back into our home where we were greeted by a coat of greasy goop to wipe off every square inch of exposed possessions. I then called my daughters school, making it very clear that she would not be returning until I was guaranteed the outbreak was completely eliminated from her classroom. She was home for two more weeks before the school nurse assured me she had sent every child with nits home to live the torture we had. We had finally managed to eradicate the plague. This was more than three years ago ... can you tell its still as fresh a trauma in my heart and soul as it was then? Believe it. It is.
I have scoured the Internet and read every article I could find about head lice. I want to be armed and prepared for battle if this horror ever cloaks our lives again. No such luck ... everyone out there is as resigned to the meek inheriting our heads as I am not prepared to be. There are a few ideas floating around that I
would have tried had I known about them.
If you have boys, you can get away with shaving their heads. Yes, this sounds gruesome but youll be forever grateful I gave you permission to goof up your sons hair if he does manage to bring holocaust into your home. If you have daughters, Im sorry. My heart goes out to you. You cant really shave a girls head in this day and age, although a family friend who is a doctor from Italy recommended we do just that. I giggled, thinking he was sooo from the old school ... I giggle no more! But we didnt shave our daughters heads. We suffered untold hell instead.
Apparently, lice have become immune to the various pediculicide treatments on the market. There are quite a few brands of pediculicide shampoo, conditioner and room spray, all with weakening power against the bolstered immune system lice have developed. Ive heard that tea tree oil, olive oil and rosemary oil are helpful in nixing the little buggers. Hairspray and hair coloring are also good deterrents. Unless youre ready to dye and spray your kids heads, this isnt an option but you could schedule a dye job early if you color your own hair. Ya know what? Id color my daughters hair. Whats worse? Bathing their little heads in surefire poison? How bad could a bottle of hair dye be compared to insecticide? If it works, count your blessing and wait for it to grow out.
One recommendation from my childrens school is to wash their hair vigorously as soon as they come home if there is an outbreak of lice in their classroom. Sounds reasonable. If they did manage to bring home an unwelcome guest, washing their hair and scalp immediately might remove the louse before it has a chance to lay eggs.
By all means, be informed. If you never have this massive nightmare visit your home, youre ten steps ahead in the life of a parent. If youve lived it, youre probably shuddering at the thought of another go-around. If you have head lice breeding in your home as you read this, my heart goes out to you. Know that you have millions of understanding parents who pity you, however the parents of your childs classmates will positively hate you if you knowingly send your kid to school with head lice. Dont even think about it ...
About the Author
Rexanne Mancini is the mother of two daughters. She maintains an extensive yet informal parenting and family web site, Rexanne.com http://www.rexanne.com -Visit her site for good advice, award-winning Internet holiday pages and some humor to help you cope. Subscribe to her free newsletter, Rexannes Web Review, for a monthly dose of Rexanne: http://www.rexanne.com/rwr-archives.html
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