I have fallen off blogging train once again but hope to do some catch-up. Needless to say, life has not been boring the past couple months!
The cartoon says it all. Yep, you guessed it, poor Taylor brought head lice home from school. (Before you freak out about contact with the Crook family, this was a couple of months ago and is no longer an issue!!!) She had had a rash on her neck for a while and we couldn't figure out what it was. The school nurse had checked her and didn't find anything, and I racked my brain for things that we might have changed in our environment that would cause a rash right there. I couldn't come up with anything so I scheduled a doctor's appointment. I was doing her hair early the morning she had the appointment when I saw something in her hair. I took her into the kitchen for better lighting and my heart stopped. AHHHH! LICE! I put Taylor in the middle of the kitchen with strict instructions not to move, made the other girls promise not to go near her, and ran upstairs and shook Lee awake in a panic and told him I was running to the store. I cried all the way to the store! Thankfully, it was only about six in the morning so I was able to get in and out quickly. I bought a box of prevention things (shampoo, spray, etc.) and several bottles of treatment kits. Not to mention like four cans of spray that you use on things you can't wash.
After calling the school to let them know kids wouldn't be there and canceling appointments for the day, I got started. The treatment process probably took two to Three hours since Taylor had longer hair and you have to carefully comb afterwards. In the meantime, I cleaned like a mad-woman! I was so crazy overwhelmed and bawled multiple times. I decided to start in the bathroom with everything washable going into the laundry and scrubbing everything else. I did bagged up stuffed toys, dress-up and put them outside to be quarantined for a month. After mom got home from school, we took every scrap of things that could be washed and headed to the laundry mat. (Bedding for everyone, dirty clothes, clean clothes that might have had contact, pillows, every coat, hat, and glove.) I bet we did over a dozen machines at the laundry mat. We tagged team and I vacuumed out both cars and sprayed them down. We also had to vacuum and spray carpets, bedding, and furniture.
So starting the beginning of a very horrible day at 6:00, I probably cleaned until 10:30 that night. I carefully spent hours checking everyone else, but thankfully no one else had gotten the lice. Whew! What a blessing that was. That might have pushed me even further over the brink of insanity. If you know anything about lice, you know you have to keep combing hair for several weeks after to make sure you catch every last egg since one hatched nit can mature into an adult capable of laying 100 MORE eggs! I combed Taylor's hair almost every night even though you only had to do it every two to three days. I also treated it twice more even though I never again found anything living.
Are you itchy yet?!?! It has taken me until just recently to not be freaked out or paranoid about it anymore. I wore my hair in a school-marm bun for about two weeks because I didn't want my longer hair to be left down and vulnerable. The school took Taylor back the next day since she had been treated and Kadie went back with no problem since she was lice-free. I did have a hard time finding a sitter for Kim. It was crazy since she didn't even have anything and I even had a note from public health saying she had been checked and was clear. However, after going through the experience, I can't say I blame anyone for being paranoid! Lee and I ended up juggling her at our differing jobs. We now have a regular sitter that we dearly love, so it all worked out for the best! It was one crazy trial to go through, but it is amazing what you end up being able to handle.
