LICE!! How we finally conquered them at our house.

 There's a new naughty word at our house. Lice.

Gilles San Martin

Are you scratching your head yet?

 I can't talk about it without getting all itchy. Whitney was the lucky recipient.We found it a few days after the letter from school came."Please be aware that there is lice at school......"I read it.I didn't worry one bit.I should have.In fact.If you have a little girland she has hair,adopt the paranoia that I will share now.  1stMake her invisible. Add some tea tree oil into a squirt bottle with water.Spray your daughter's hair.Put her hair up.Get it off her shoulders.When?Everyday.Lice like humans not trees.Tea tree oil is awesome.I found my bottle at Walgreens.Should've been doing this as soon as cold weather hit.Hats.Coats.Backpacks.I'll hung close together.Perfect for Lice.Request that her coat goes in a bag on the back of her chair.    2ndTeach your daughter how to avoid it.Drill it in her sweet head.Don't throw your coat on a heap with your friend's coats.Don't share your hat.Don't share your hair brush.  3rdDon't be ignorant.If your daughter gets lice.Put your hair up.Don't snuggle her close to your head. Christmas Eve, I found lice in my hair.Not fun. Unless, you'd like your husband to spend hours and hours combing through your thick hair. Google "lice".They don't jump.
 4th Research.Read up on lice and understand them.Their life cycle,what will kill them.How to get rid of them.So much info online. The shampoo's and sprays are worthless.DO NOT use the spray on your furniture or mattresses.Its poison.I'd rather have lice than kill my family.I used Nix shampoo on Whitney's head.I picked 30 live Lice of her scalp after I used the shampoo.All over the internet it says the shampoo doesn't work.I agree.Olive oil.All over your head.Shower cap.Towel over shower cap.Sleep on it.14 hours I kept it on.Use regular shampoo,took about 4 rinses.Leave in some conditioner.Comb through hair with nit comb.over and over and overNo lice after that. 
 5thEmpty her room and the house.Soft toys.Extra blankets.Outside in garbage bags.  
Cover your couch with a mattress bed-wetting cover sheet.She sleeps on the couch.Give her new bedding everyday.(Throw bedding in the dryer for 20 minutes w/ heat.)No dirty clothes on the floor. Take clothes out of her drawers. All clothes come from a quarantined spot.My garden tub was perfect.Every towel, every pillow,every soft thinghas to be clean before use.Couch pillows outside too.Cover your car's seats with garbage bags. Do all of this until you see no evidence for 2 weeks. 

6th

Look for Lice often.

Even if you don't get a letter from school.If you do catch lice- Go through hair 3 times a day.Record your findings.How many lice, how many nits (eggs).Make sure you have somewhere to place them when you find them.a small garbage does the trick,or a bowl.Empty it outside in the big trash.Find a newly hatched lice (nymph).They're very small. 

Actual size of the three lice forms compared to a penny. (CDC Photo)

 Place it in a cereal bowl with tweezers.Pull a hair from your head.Run the strand of hair over the nymph.Be amazed and very scared.Like a magnet it clings.Be consistent.Be a bit paranoid.Work hard.Give up your all the things you did for fun.Oh, and if you think you've conquered them.think again,Give it a good 2 weeks.Before you think you're in the clear.

7thTry to stay calm.Ha. Good luck.I was plagued for a month.Getting lice flat out stinks. Going through thisI'd remember all the stories of other womens' trials.They were strong.They didn't cave to frustration.You know the stories.The ones that are told from the memory of a prophet, some noble gentleman,or a great women. "My mother was the epitome of patience and fortitude."
I cried like a baby one day.so frustrated !!!!!!!!!!!It was the first day back to school-after Christmas break.I had day of plans,the girls were happy to see friends again.I checked again,just to make sure.You guessed it!Lice.Thought we were done.Nope.Not out of the clear unless its been like 3 weeks.I haven't seen anything for 2.I'm still checking.These bitty things.These horrible pests. They broke me. At first I was confident and calm. But day after day it got to me. My daughters may never be prominentor great now. Are their stories really true?The children of those women must have selective memory. In the moment the thought was to handle it better butcrying along with them seemed like the perfect solutionalong with getting even more paranoid, more consistent,and CRAZY!Ya it hurts my pride now.But life goes on.I will say,during it all I tried to count my blessings.(In order of importance.)A little girl's prayer. Netflix Wallace and GrommetGoogle   My patient husband Clothes Dryer  Washing MachineFriends with experience Freezer Shower capsHead lampsLeather couch  
I'm gonna go check my head.