I considered not making this post because let's face it, it's not glorious but I quickly decided that I'm not that type of person. I'm not going to filter out the ugly parts of motherhood. Transparency is so important to me because I never want another mom to look at me and think, 'She's got it all together.' or 'Her life is so perfect.'. I don't have my shit together at all and my life is like a circus.
Yesterday we had our first run in with head lice. I've known that this day was coming but anyone who knows me knows that the thought of it makes my skin crawl. Because everyone knows that I'm such a weirdo about cleanliness and personal hygiene I've been warned repeatedly by friends and family that when you have kids in public school it's not if but when you'll have a lice issue. I've went as far as to shampoo the kids hair regularly with tea tree oil shampoo because I've read that for whatever reason it prevents lice. Of course the week that I don't use that shampoo because we ran out and I haven't made it to the beauty supply store is the same week that Andlee ends up with lice.
Anyways, I had one of my first moments of thinking 'I don't love being a mom right about now' when I was 2 1/2 hours into picking the lice out of my very thick and long headed baby girls hair one by one and I wasn't even half way done with her head. I'll admit that I overly combed and analyzed each freaking stand of hair outside with bright natural sunlight. I'm not kidding, ask my husband! Every. Single. Stand. My whole body itched as I did it and I felt like a prissy little diva. Something about bugs or parasites gives me goose bumps. I'm typically not a prissy person at all. In fact, I'm rough and the total opposite. I'll gut a deer or scale fish anyday. Bugs, another story. Andlee of course was curious about what was going on. She's a soft hearted and over thinks things so I had to really be careful how I explained this. I was upset to learn that one of the teachers told her that lice is bugs in her hair. That may be the blunt truth of it but that is not how you should address it to what could be an insecure child. There are better ways to go about it and teachers of all people should know how sensitive some kids are.
I simply told Andlee that all of the kids have had or will have it at some point. I told her that it's like tiny dust pieces that gets in your hair and is hard to get out but no big deal at all. She just needs to make sure not to share brushes, hats, pony tails, pillows, blankets, ect with anyone at school. I also told her that Brian and I had it. My mom chimed in and said that she had it too. This made Andlee laugh. I don't even care if it was a lie. I don't care if she repeats that lie. I don't care if I didn't accurately educate her on the fact that 'she has bugs in her hair'. All I care about is that we made light of a common situation that was bothering her. We made her laugh and helped her realize that it was normal.
The rest of us do not have any signs of lice but of course I treated us for it to make myself feel better and to make Andlee not feel out of place.
As far as she is concerned we all have lice and you all probably have lice too. You're welcome.
Lesson #1 on lice is officially combated... For now.
Our house, cars, and all of their surfaces have been bleached, smothered, scorched, washed, and sprayed with over priced lice killer. Andlee is egg free and we all have cleaner heads than anyone else out there.
Note to self and to all of you, use tea tree oil shampoo regularly. I'm convinced that it really worked. I mean, what's the odds of her getting it the only week that we didn't use that shampoo?
Also explain to your kids what lice is in a way that you see fit. Hopefully that's a gentle, nonchalant way that doesn't involve the harsh statement of gross bugs in someone's hair! Even if they never get lice, kindly explaining it to them will help prevent them from picking on someone who does get it or from saying that, that kid has bugs in his or hers hair. I can't imagine if a child had overheard the teacher tell Andlee that and then made fun of her. It would of hurt her and frankly I would have been ready to get someone fired. We as parents can raise our kids to not be mean and we/you as teachers can help prevent situations that opens the door for bullying but that's a blog post for different day, isn't it ha?
I'll get into that topic later this week. I truly believe that the adults in children's lives are the largest puzzle piece to how kids treat other kids.
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