About three weeks ago I got a call from the school letting me know that they had done some checking for lice throughout the classes and Julia was one of the lucky girls who they found nits in her hair. There were three girls in her class (who all play together, of course) who had it and although she didn't have very many they wanted to make sure I knew so I could get a handle on it early. Well, that made me wonder....Does Jess have it too? Jess was home from Kindergarten already so I did a little checking...and sure enough, she had it too.
Now it makes you wonder what kind of mother doesn't realize their girls have lice? I do their hair every morning. Sure it's not in a very well lit room in the morning. Sure I usually just pull their hair in a pony or I'm curling it. Well...didn't know it was there so I wasn't watching for it :(
I have this 5 year old girl that comes in bed with me EVERY NIGHT. So, if she has it, guess who else probably has it.
Now let's go back to a couple weeks BEFORE I got the call. We were picking pine nuts in Milford with Kandice and her kids. I had told Kandice about my itchy head and wondered about psoriasis, because it's something my mom has. I told her my head was itchy but it didn't flake when I scratched it. She said it could be something with the season and suggested I change my shampoo to see if that helps. Julia said, "My head itches a lot too!" and Kandice said, "Well, maybe you have lice!" We all laughed and thought it was funny! Not so funny when it's true!
Ok. Now back to the Friday I got the "lice call". That Friday was our Primary Program Practice so I knew I wouldn't have time to treat any of our hair and make it to the practice on time. I threw all our hair in buns and told them not to let anyone touch their hair and they shouldn't touch anyone else's hair. Jess knew she had lice and nits in her hair and she wasn't afraid to let anyone know :/ I told her it's not something we should tell everyone. Luckily she forgot to call them lice and started saying she has sap in her hair. That was easier for me to let go.
After the practice we all washed our hair with the lovely lice-killing shampoo and then had so much fun (YES! THAT WAS EXAGGERATED!!) combing through all our hair to remove all the nits those blasted lice had left! Jess had the hardest time holding still. Of course what five-year-old likes to have her hair pulled and combed through every inch while she has to sit still for almost an hour while it happens. Julia was a lot better sport about sitting still which was a really good thing because she had more hair and it took longer.
Then it was my turn. Luckily, Kandice was in town that weekend so she spent her evening coming to my aid and helping me get rid of MY lice before she headed down to Vegas to enjoy a girls weekend with her friends. Another bonus was that she didn't find very many nits in my hair so that made me feel better.
Fast forward to today. I feel like we've got a better handle on the situation. Jess and I both ended up needing a second treatment and Todd was nice enough to check my head since I couldn't do it myself, but I think we are all in the clear. The worst part of it all is anytime my head itches, I can't help but think there is one of those devilish bugs going to work in there.
The topper of it all was today when I was helping in Jess' classroom. They are learning words in the "it" family; kit, hit, sit, bit, knit, pit etc. The kids would choose a word, say the word, stamp the word, and then write the word. Jess picked the word "knit". She's learned the k is silent. She said, "Knit. Like nit in our hair". That's how you know lice is a common topic at your house and you know too much about it...when the Kindergarten baby sees the work knit and refers to lice eggs.