What's Buggin' Me...

Oh the thing you don't want to talk about.

But how do I not bring it up?

Years from now when I'm explaining "the worst days of my life" (other than a hubby-related-health-situation-3-1/2 years ago), and there is no record of it in this family journal of sorts...that just doesn't seem right.

So I'm just going to say it.

Starting now.

OK, now.

OK..no really...now.

We had lice.

I can't believe I just put that out there in the world wide web.

It was AWFUL! Terrible! Disgusting!

I noticed Bea scratching her head a couple of days after we got home from Big Bear.

Every.single.time. I see a young girl scratch her head I immediately think of my nephews having lice last December. (That frame of reference came in handy several months ago when my paranoia was spot-on about a girl having lice in my Awana group. But back to the present time.) While I always panic when I see scratching of heads, I also then am able to do a "discount-double-check" (lol...I use that phrase way too often these days) in my head, and sound-mind tells me, "Sometimes, you just have an itch. That's all." So when Bea scratched her head at breakfast, I was cautious...but calm. But theeeeen, when she continued to scratch her head during school that morning, my cautiously-calm state, quickly progressed to panic-curiosity.

I had to check her hair.

(gag)

Sure enough, I saw 2 creepers.

(GAG!!!)

At that moment, everything changed. I went in to hyper-drive! EVERYTHING...E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G. ...must be washed!!!

(a SMALL fraction of the laundry...)

 

And just when I thought there couldn't be any more laundry, I saw my daughter peek through her window, and her hair brushed against her curtains...tear the curtains down, throw those in the pile too...sigh.

We were waiting outside of Target 5 minutes before they opened...must.buy.all.things.lice.killer/remover!!!

After we got home, I took care of Bea's hair, and even though I didn't feel itchy at all, I did a precautionary lice-shampoo washing of my own hair, and then threw my hair up in a bun.

After the hours of combing and picking through Bea's hair, I realized we were barely making a dent in the laundry situation with our tiny stackable washer/dryer...off to the laundry mat for hours.

Come home, do more picking and combing of Bea's hair for hours.

What a day! I was exhauuuuuusted! Horrible day. H.O.R.R.I.B.L.E.

After the kids went to bed for the night, I had my first chance to take my hair out of the bun, and inspect my own hair.

(gag)

I found what I thought was a lice egg.

(GAG)

I began recounting all of the post-vacation-naps I had taken with Bea, and all of the cuddle-fest-moments on the couch...my heart sank. :0(

My husband and my mom had to work, so they couldn't do an inspection of my hair...but there was NO WAY I could go to bed and sleep knowing that there were lice (dead or alive??) in my hair!

FORTUNATELY my sister-bestie came to my rescue, and drove to my house after she got off of work at 10pm! (She is AMAZING!) She checked my head, and sure enough she found a lice egg also. NOOOOOOOO!!!!! I told her there was no need to inspect further...even though the instructions on the box said not to do the shampoo treatment again for 7-10 days, I HAD to do another treatment!!!

After the shampoo process, my sister combed through my hair for hours, and our "lice party" broke up a little after 1am (See, I told you she is AMAZING!)

I became the lice-Nazi...I had an eagle eye. The next few days Beatrice sat patiently while I combed through her hair morning and night for hours...I.MUST.DESTROY.AND.REMOVE.ALL.THINGS.LITTLE.AND.WHITE.

 

And with my diligent attention detail, Beatrice quickly (although, it didn't seem "quick" in the moment) became lice, and egg free!!! HOORAAAAAAAY!!!!

My situation on the other hand wasn't progressing. I was relying on my husband (who doesn't know how to part hair correctly), and my mom (your eye sight starts to fail as you get older) to pick and comb through my hair. On top of that, because I had done 2 shampoo treatments on my hair, my scalp was freaking out, and I had patches of "flaking"...UGH! It became very hard for them to decipher between eggs and flakes! There was no way to know if things were good...or REALLY BAD!

I have heard of parents who lock themselves in a bathroom during the day to have a private freak-out session. Up until this week, I don't remember doing that.

On the "outside", we were spending our days of quarantine playing games...

 

...painting...

 

..and playing too many rounds to count of "I spy..." on the Christmas tree...

 

 

But on the "inside"...oooooh, the inside...I was a MESS!

There was a lot of this...

 

And a lot of this...

 

And even some serious thoughts of doing this...

 

But I was always able to remember that I didn't want to be this...

 

My husband was great through this situation. Very calm...very rational...and even very funny. He kept telling me I was over-reacting...but not in a nasty "YOU ARE OVER-REACTING!" kind of way. I could tell my mom felt the same way as Rick. I kept hearing, "You won't have lice forever!"..."No one has lice FOREVER!"

But what these people (lol) don't understand, is that you have to get rid of the eggs/lice in order to not have lice forever.

These eggs are like finding a needle in a haystack! And if you miss even ONE, that ONE will hatch, and you will repeat the whole cycle all over again! AAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!

I was SOOOOOOO NOT confident in their ability to get me egg-free.

After they both kept squashing my desire to call in a professional, they finally relented!

That night, I googled "Lice Removal in (my city)" and much to my surprise, there were MANY MANY MANY companies to choose from! One company in particular sounded the best, and at 9:30 the next morning, Sonia, my lice-life-saver showed up at my door!!

Beatrice had been egg/lice-free for 3 days, but Sonia checked her out just to be sure...

 

...and sure enough, my girl's scalp was as clean as a whistle! :0)

And then...the moment I was waiting for...my comb-out!! (That's a little lice-lingo for ya!)

Sonia was amazing! She was so calm...so precise...so everything! (Hey, she got rid of my lice, I can't say enough good things about her, lol!)

But when all was said and done, she only had to extract 6 eggs in my hair, so everything was SUPER MILD! Rick and my mom like to remind me of that often..."super mild"...but I can't help but to follow up with..."But if those 6 eggs would have hatched(!!!)..."

I was so grateful for the professional! You have confidence and peace when she tells you, "You are now lice/egg-free!" What a FANTASTIC feeling!!! There was an immediate burden lifted, and an immediate feeling of joy that had returned.

I had to cancel 4 parties/commitments during that week of quarantine. It was such an awful feeling to not only admit to those people that you have lice...but to also have to miss out on all of the fun that was being had out in the world.

So when Sonia said I was "clean"...I was GOOOONE! We had things to do and people to see! :0)))

Freedom from lice...freedom from (CONSTANT) laundry...freedom from hours of combing/picking through hair...freedom from quarantine...ALL FEELS INCREDIBLE!!!!

No, my daughter is not allowed to share your hairbrush...No, my daughter is not allowed to try on your hat...No, my daughter is not allowed to wear your jacket..."N"..."O"...NOPE...lice is not gonna happen...ever again. (At least, that's my prayer!)