Lice. Getting rid of you for good!

Yep. You read that right. LICE!! Over a month long battle fighting these damn bugs, and I feel like I am taking a big risk jinxing myself even saying this, but in the spirit of sending positive energy into my world: we have WON the battle!! I did just knock on wood however as you can never be too safe knowing that the enemy could appear at a moments notice.

A few weeks ago there was a nice little “informational flyer” sent home in a school folder about lice and how to rid your child and home of their presence should your child be so unfortunate as to contract lice. I gave it a quick glance as I threw it in the trash and didn’t give it a second thought. Next thing I know I noticed Claire scratching her head. At first I just made a joke about it, thinking to myself the flyer had made me paranoid. Then she kept scratching… and scratching…. and scratching.

Immediately after a full blown head check and quick google search for comparison pictures, Levi and I confirmed lice on our precious little girls scalp. Oh shit, my head was now uncontrollably itchy as well. Levi didn’t bat an eye and, in fact, I think he grinned a smug little grin as he rubbed his freshly shaved head. I instantly went into panic mode, wishing I hadn’t thrown that darn informational flyer away as I researched lice online and all the ways to prevent it from overrunning our house. The first battle plan entailed a mad dash to the store to buy a fine pick comb, lice shampoo, and treatment spray.

Fleas vs. Lice

We just moved here from South East Texas, which has got to be the flea mecca of the universe. The flea infestation we experienced there from our beloved family dog Jordan was almost more than I could handle. Bugs should not be so microscopically small and have the ability to jump like ten feet while being almost impossible to kill no matter what you do. Jordan was constantly being bathed, given medication, and being brushed to try to rid his aging body of the fleas and it seemed we were fighting a losing battle.

Levi’s hairy lower legs had bites all over them. The kids would also occasionally wake up and be victimized by the random flea that had hitched a ride into their room on old Jordan and found its way into their bed while they slept. The house was constantly being vacuumed, swept, and being treated with any and all indoor flea spray that we could find. Eventually the weather cooled down and the fleas died off. It seemed only mother nature could defeat the flea and we all were cautiously optimistic once the bites went away and we couldn’t find anymore fleas on Jordan.

That was an experience that we all hoped we would never have to relive. My point in sharing the shit show we experienced with fleas is that we are a bit gun shy when dealing with small and invasive insects. We were not going to be playing around with lice. We want to nip this now before its another epidemic.

I headed to the store for WLD’s (weapons of lice destruction). Levi stayed at home stripped the bedding off of every bed (alongside pillows, car seat covers, coats. Anything our hair could possibly have touched or even wafted across) was washed in hot water. Kids were bathed, hair washed, combed out, and sprayed. It was quite the operation. Bed time was missed by hours, but we were pretty sure we nailed it and all the lice were gone. I sighed a sigh of relief and felt proud of myself for catching the lice quickly. Putting an end to them before it became “too much” of a hassle

Round 2

A few days later (with head lice the furthest thing from my mind) I got a call from the nurse at Claire’s school. I saw the school’s name pop up on caller ID my heart immediately dropped. Thinking something was seriously wrong with my girl. Of course I tend to jump to worst case scenarios; Claire has gone missing from the school over recess. She broke her arm on the playground. The nurse quickly assured me that Claire was just fine. Nothing was wrong other than she had just found lice nits in her hair. When put into perspective and hearing that she is fine and just has lice, it wasn’t the end of the world. But really? That sucks! This battle should be over! We treated her hair, we washed all of her bedding and clothes, how is it possible that she still has lice?!

As soon as we got home from school and work we drew up another battle plan. We got to work staging a multi faceted attack. Rewashed everyone’s hair. Picked out every single nit we could see with a fine tooth comb. (Literally had a light bulb moment about where that figure of speech came from). Sprayed a treatment in our hair. Washed anything and everything that was washable. Bleached everything non-porous. Sprayed lice killer on everything else we thought might be a hiding place for the tiny enemy.

Levi and I had earned our stripes. Likely to be receiving a medal for our leadership and determination on the battleground. So what for another late night of battle and missed bedtimes. We kept the kiddos home another day to prevent them giving (or getting) lice from other little one’s. Stopping its dreadful reign of terror. Levi stayed home with the kids and rewashed and cleaned ALL bedding and coats again, just as an extra precaution.

Round 3

A few days went by and Claire wasn’t itching her head, that much. I just assumed that the lice killing shampoo was drying out her scalp and it was a little itchy. No biggie. Wrong! Got another call at work from the school nurse. Claire STILL had lice. The nurse did another head check. Apparently there were a few kiddos in her class that seem to just keep passing it back and forth. MY GOD!! Are they just rubbing their heads together all day? Are they sharing hair brushes? Hats? Earmuffs? What is going on??? Why God, WHY???!!

While processing our current lice situation I had a flashback of a grade school experience of my own. My mom took me to her hairdresser at a very upscale salon to have my hair done. The hairdresser washed my hair and began to comb it out. Talking to my mom and I about what we wanted to do with my hair.

I was having such a lovely time daydreaming about how stunning I would look with my new fancy hairdo. Suddenly the hairdresser asked my mom if she could talk to her in the back for a minute. As they walked to the back I sat in the chair thinking nothing of it. Until I see my mom walking towards me like she had seen a ghost. Hop up Kileigh we need to go! I remember asking a million questions (probably in an embarrassingly loud voice for everyone to hear). Why are we leaving?! I have what?! LICE?! Whats that?! But my hair is wet, we can’t leave now, I haven’t even had my hair done yet!!

Suddenly the hairdresser asked my mom if she could talk to her in the back for a minute. As they walked to the back I sat in the chair thinking nothing of it. Until I see my mom walking towards me like she had seen a ghost. Hop up Kileigh we need to go! I remember asking a million questions (probably in an embarrassingly loud voice for everyone to hear). Why are we leaving?! I have what?! LICE?! Whats that?! But my hair is wet, we can’t leave now, I haven’t even had my hair done yet!!

Every time I go to have my hair done I am paranoid of my hair dresser finding lice. A week or so before my hair appointment I have phantom itches. I convince myself I somehow contracted lice and can not get my hair done. Even ask Levi to sift through my hair at a snails pace to check for lice. This eases my worries as my hair appointment nears. So how this “epidemic” hit my family so hard without my knowledge blows my mind. But it did and here we were on round 3 of washing, combing, and treating!!

Final Battle

At this point we were a few weeks away from Grandma and Grandpa visiting. No matter how much we fought, the lice returned hungrier and more resilient than before. We were all excited about their visit but I couldn’t help but worry we were going to send them home with a few extra passengers, and I am not talking about the kids.

Time to search the internet for additional weaponry to add to our arsenal. Putting an end to this battle for good I told myself. I ordered “Fairy Tale” preventative shampoo, which we use weekly, and a spray which we now use daily. Claire has started to like wearing her hair up in a bun. That too should help prevent the lice from being able to stake claim to her hair. Levi and I both remind Claire daily to not share coats, scarfs, earmuffs or hats with her friends at school. Try to limit hugs with her friends so we can stop this lice nonsense. So far we have had clear reports from the nurse. Our fingers are crossed that someday soon we will look back and laugh at this ordeal. Or at least not cry.

During this month long battle Levi has been quick to point out the benefit of being bald but as of now none of us are ready, or willing, to go to that extreme to prevent lice. Okay enough with the lice for now, I have a scalp itch that needs to be investigated ASAP!!