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Saturday, February 11, 2017

The certified, bona fide, guaranteed, genuine lock it down and send the key on a trip to space end to 2016


Laura and I had haircuts today. There was a happy dance.

Forty two days into the new year, the ghost of last year left.

We went to Ann’s for Christmas last year, and I came back to a busy, busy week closing the township books. But, I did slip in a haircut appointment for the two of us. Laura was barely in the chair when Mel called me over, and showed me a tango line of little white bumps along every part she’d made in Laura’s hair.

Mel is so young and so nice, and wasn’t sure this grandma knew the score, so she started out, “Don’t be ashamed. I’m a mother of a little girl, too. This happens all the time.” She wrote a brand name of a treatment on her card, told me to call her if I had any questions. As the door closed behind us, they were hurriedly wiping down all the places Laura had been.

We took the treatment at once. We combed and combed and combed. “Yetch,” Laura said. This is gross. We combed some more.

I sent Ann a text: “”Laura has head lice. Check Pat. They shared that hat. L

Ann called me. “I checked that text twice to be sure it was dated December 31st. It is. I pronounce it the end to The Year From Hell. Don’t worry about Pat. He’ll take the cure with flea shampoo.”

Back home, we’d made some headway. But the school nurse said the little buggers had just retreated to the back of Laura’s head. We took the cure again. We washed bedding daily. No pass from the nurse. We combed some more. No pass from the nurse.



Laura texted me a business card from one of the nurse checks. Happy Heads 4 U. Guaranteed. Three trips to Happy Heads later, the nurse was happy. Laura was happy. Grandma was happy.




Mel put four inches of Laura’s split ends on the floor this afternoon.


27 comments:

  1. Hari OM
    Oh dear... that brought back memories from my school days, when everyone in the place had to go through awful treatments just because one lad's mother couldn't cope with the idea of hygiene. The thing is, one doesn't have to have poor hygiene to land up with these little critters... it just takes one. Sigh. Well done on the fight. Onwards into 2017!!! YAM xx

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  2. That just made my head itch.

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  3. Gosh those lice were stubborn little suckers! Thankfully I've never had them nor have my kids, but two grand children got them every autumn until my daughter tried the tea tree oil prevention: get a spray bottle, empty a full (small) bottle of tea tree oil into it, top up with water. Shake vigorously then lightly spray the scalp and hair each morning while combing. No more head lice.

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  4. Takes me back to around '87, when the last occurrence of lice was in my girls. I remember rounding up all 8,000 or so of Emily's stuffed animals, taking them to work in plastic bags, and giving them to Central Supply to gas sterilize. The manager looked at me with the look "you're abusing your authority", I didn't give a damn.

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  5. I started school in a little country schoolhouse... and the county health dept nurse would come and check heads every so often. There were certain kids she pretty much knew to check, but heck... we all shared the same cloak room etc. My Mom had a "fine tooth comb" ... and if you've never seen one, it's hard to imagine you could actually get it through your hair... but it has to get close to the scalp to get the nits. Anyway... your post brought back some memories... right up there with pin worms. Hey... do kids get those these days?

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  6. I've read that lice are getting immune to the standard chemical treatments. But I've also read that regular hair conditioner will immobilize the adult ones and make combing out both adults and eggs easier ... just in case you ever need that information! I hope you NEVER do.

    Laura has beautiful hair!

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  7. It seemed that every year when my kids were in school a note would come home telling us that there was an outbreak of lice in school and to check our children's hair. I do remember that we had to do the treatment a few times. My girls wore their hair very long like Laura, and it was not easy.

    Glad she got the thumbs up and all is well.

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  8. The truth is that lice like clean heads the best. And for some reason they like blondes. Being the mother of three blondes I had a constant battle for a while. I would take them to the doctor as required by the school. He would write the note stating that they were all lice free. Before the first hour was over the school would call me to inform me that my second son (the blondest) had a head full of those nasty critters. They actually discussed closing the school for a week because the problem there was so bad. You have my sympathy and congratulations. What a pain.

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  9. What a lot of work, so happy it's behind you now.

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  10. This was one of my worst fears when the kids were young. I dreaded if they got lice; thankfully they never did. Glad Laura was finally rid of them; a bit sigh of relief I imagine for the two of you!

    betty

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  11. Memories of doing my four at school age...and my daughter had beautiful long hair like Laura. Worth looking after!

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  12. I used to comb through with lots of hair conditioner but in the end went for a battery operated comb... Zap the little buggers !

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  13. I have never had head lice, but one of my daughters has -- when she was a kid.

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  14. My grandkids got them and I used the treatment just in case. They freak me out. I don't know why since they are so common.

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  15. Oh, what a pain!!! It is very common, but unless everyone is diligent (as you were), the problem continues. It is rampant with little kids because they sit so close together, toss all their winter hats together on a coat rack, and just communally hang out together like a troop of monkeys. But some parents are not aware that regular shampoo doesn't do it, and that bedding and other soft, fabric things need treating as well. Stuffed toys can be sealed up in a garbage bag for a couple of weeks to kill off anything that may have temporarily been on them. Also bedding can be put in a dryer on the hottest temperature. Yup, a royal pain! Sorry to hear you had to go through that! -Jenn (by the way, my head is now itchy just thinking of it)

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  16. I think my daughter got them once, don't remember if my son did but my grandkids' elementary school had a serious outbreak and they had a terrible time getting rid of it. those kids got treated over and over and over using different products to no avail. finally all but one of the twins was free. her father, in frustration, finally took his shaver and shaved the cack of her neck and up about to the top of her ears. That finally did it.

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  17. Poor Laura, with those icky things in her pretty hair. I'm sorry for both of you, and I hope they never come back.

    Love,
    Janie

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  18. Ugh. My daughter had anxiety nightmares forever after her round with them. The boys didn't seem at all unsettled.

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  19. I'm glad I never had them, sounds so darn scary.

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  20. I think every child in my daughter's primary school had head lice. It was much harder then to treat them. One school photograph day saw a teacher combing every child's hair with the same comb. I was not pleased. I hope she combed her own hair with it afterwards.

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  21. Super gross - and I'm so happy my kids made it through childhood withou your experience. And I'm amazed that at some point in my teaching career I didn't bring home unwelcome visitors.

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  22. Luckily I've never had that problem. good riddance dance

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  23. As the mother of three girls and nanna of four grandchildren, I have had my share of head lice problems my youngest daughter had it so much and so bad that twice we had to cut her hair really short to get rid of them

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  24. You do know that lice especially love clean hair. And clean houses. I often had to tell my hospital patients not to be ashamed. It doesn't mean they are dirty. They might just be too clean. I remember when Harley had a bout of head lice a few years back. I thought we would never get rid of them. Finally just made her hair oily and dirty and bam they were gone!! I'm happy we haven't had any of that for awhile.

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  25. The chemical treatments for lice can't be good for humans. Those pests are so hard to get rid of otherwise.

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  26. What a drag dealing with that!!! Glad you finally got rid of those little beasties.

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