Oh god, this really triggered me. I had lice in sixth grade and it was mortifying because I got pulled out of class by the nurse who examined my head because someone TATTLED ON ME as probably having lice. Then the nurse went on to say it was the worse case of lice she'd ever seen. Because apparently my mom had never seen it and did not know the signs even though I had been itching for weeks. WEEKS. Then we did the RID shampoo and so many huge bugs washed out of my hair followed by endless combing and removing of the nits. Gross and traumatizing and so embarrassing. My kid is 10 and hasn't had lice. Knock on all the wood. But now I'm sitting at my desk typing this and scratching my head and am about two seconds away from ordering a terminator to have it on hand just in freaking case.
Sometimes I will be describing some terrible life stuff to someone and they will say "I don't know how you do it!" And I am like "I was not aware there was an alternative?" That's being the Mom for you, just...doing it. And you did! (And I fully endorse this as the type of situation where Amazon is appropriate!)
I'm proud of you! Lice is the worst. Our first time, I did the same as you--Rid, research, the terminator comb, very thorough, careful brush through of a kid and a toddler. And then I got called into to pick up the toddler from school with lice for the second time and went straight to the nearby lice clinic. Schools are so chill about it anymore! When I was kid if there was lice, everyone in the class got checked--now they're just like "oh yeah, as soon as you treat them they can come back" and they don't tell anyone
I so wish they checked everyone at school! It really helped me remain calm just knowing that I could always go to a lice clinic if my own attempts didn't work. One of them is called the Lice Nanny and I kept telling myself, "There's always the Lice Nanny. She's always there."
I am keeping this in my back pocket for when the time I am so afraid of most likely comes. Also, I did have it as a kid and I do wish my mom had known about the head temperature thing because all of my stuffed animals were sacrificed and I do wish she had allowed screen time instead of a chocolate chip every five minutes because now I still reward myself with chocolate...
Not the stuffed animals!!! The standard recommendation now is to bag them up for two weeks, so that's what we did. The chocolate reward isn't a bad idea though (I say as someone who totally uses chocolate as a reward).
This is SUPER embarrassing, but the last time we had a lice event in our family, I ignored it for a bizarrely long time. I have / had neurological illness, so when my head started itching, I figured it was just yet another in a long line of neuro symptoms. I went a whole WEEK of a beach vacation scratching my head and wondering how long the itch would take to go away. It was only when we were back home that my son was like "hey, Mom, there's a bug in my hair" (he was going into middle school so I thought we were out of lice territory. I thought wrong!), and I realized that I had completely forgotten about the simplest explanation for my problem.
I find the lice comb to be ... weirdly soothing? And there's something satisfying in, like, a gamification way of finding the lice and nits and knowing you're getting closer to being done. That said, I never want to go through that again, lol. I hope it was your last lice experience, too.
I am sorry for laughing out loud at this! I mean, I somehow didn't realize my kid had lice for a pretty long time, so I get it! Removing lice reminded me of how some people like to watch those pimple popper shows. Like, it's gross but also very satisfying.
Yes, the Terminator comb is a lifesaver! I got through multiple bouts of lice (4 daughters) with a tea tree lice treatment that you can't get anymore. However, I recommend having the kids use tea tree shampoo a few times a week as a deterrent. Well done, mama!
Oh god, this really triggered me. I had lice in sixth grade and it was mortifying because I got pulled out of class by the nurse who examined my head because someone TATTLED ON ME as probably having lice. Then the nurse went on to say it was the worse case of lice she'd ever seen. Because apparently my mom had never seen it and did not know the signs even though I had been itching for weeks. WEEKS. Then we did the RID shampoo and so many huge bugs washed out of my hair followed by endless combing and removing of the nits. Gross and traumatizing and so embarrassing. My kid is 10 and hasn't had lice. Knock on all the wood. But now I'm sitting at my desk typing this and scratching my head and am about two seconds away from ordering a terminator to have it on hand just in freaking case.
omg noooooo! This IS a traumatizing story! I hope your kid avoids them for life!!
Sometimes I will be describing some terrible life stuff to someone and they will say "I don't know how you do it!" And I am like "I was not aware there was an alternative?" That's being the Mom for you, just...doing it. And you did! (And I fully endorse this as the type of situation where Amazon is appropriate!)
I'm proud of you! Lice is the worst. Our first time, I did the same as you--Rid, research, the terminator comb, very thorough, careful brush through of a kid and a toddler. And then I got called into to pick up the toddler from school with lice for the second time and went straight to the nearby lice clinic. Schools are so chill about it anymore! When I was kid if there was lice, everyone in the class got checked--now they're just like "oh yeah, as soon as you treat them they can come back" and they don't tell anyone
I so wish they checked everyone at school! It really helped me remain calm just knowing that I could always go to a lice clinic if my own attempts didn't work. One of them is called the Lice Nanny and I kept telling myself, "There's always the Lice Nanny. She's always there."
I am keeping this in my back pocket for when the time I am so afraid of most likely comes. Also, I did have it as a kid and I do wish my mom had known about the head temperature thing because all of my stuffed animals were sacrificed and I do wish she had allowed screen time instead of a chocolate chip every five minutes because now I still reward myself with chocolate...
Not the stuffed animals!!! The standard recommendation now is to bag them up for two weeks, so that's what we did. The chocolate reward isn't a bad idea though (I say as someone who totally uses chocolate as a reward).
This is SUPER embarrassing, but the last time we had a lice event in our family, I ignored it for a bizarrely long time. I have / had neurological illness, so when my head started itching, I figured it was just yet another in a long line of neuro symptoms. I went a whole WEEK of a beach vacation scratching my head and wondering how long the itch would take to go away. It was only when we were back home that my son was like "hey, Mom, there's a bug in my hair" (he was going into middle school so I thought we were out of lice territory. I thought wrong!), and I realized that I had completely forgotten about the simplest explanation for my problem.
I find the lice comb to be ... weirdly soothing? And there's something satisfying in, like, a gamification way of finding the lice and nits and knowing you're getting closer to being done. That said, I never want to go through that again, lol. I hope it was your last lice experience, too.
I am sorry for laughing out loud at this! I mean, I somehow didn't realize my kid had lice for a pretty long time, so I get it! Removing lice reminded me of how some people like to watch those pimple popper shows. Like, it's gross but also very satisfying.
Yes, the Terminator comb is a lifesaver! I got through multiple bouts of lice (4 daughters) with a tea tree lice treatment that you can't get anymore. However, I recommend having the kids use tea tree shampoo a few times a week as a deterrent. Well done, mama!
Thank you for reminding me that when I was in the thick of it, I swore I was going to get tea tree shampoo or spray. I need to do that!
Kudos to you for successfully managing this situation, truly inspiring and unexpectedly entertaining (from afar!)
If there is any sort of literary award for best lice related post you absolutely win 🥇