This past fall, my daughter started pre-school and you can imagine the excitement of picking out school clothes, researching hair tutorials and tediously picking out the perfect backpack.
It was all too exciting.
Each day was filled with so much anticipation. I was able to enforce an early bedtime with her reward as taking her to school the next day. I was finding my new rhythm and I loved every second of it.
After Thanksgiving break, I went to pick up my daughter at her sitter’s, and I noticed my daughter was strangely itchy. At first, I thought maybe she had an extra active day and she was sweaty, but her sitter said the dreaded phrase, “maybe it’s lice.” I brushed off the comment and got my kids in the car, but I was ‘itching’ to check her.
There it was… A nit! My mind went racing, so I called my mom and she came rushing over. I called her teacher to inform her that my daughter was sent home with lice and to notify the parents of her class as soon as possible as a precaution. When I called the school office, as I was instructed to do, I was told it would be taken care of. I felt like I was doing my job as a good parent.
After a couple of hours, my mom worked her magic and my anxiety subsided but it didn’t last long. A couple days later, she was itching again. And the next day. And the next day. I bought every chemically saturated concoction that was on the shelves of WalMart and Target. After missing a week of school, I finally sent her back and her very concerned teacher asked what was going on. I told her about the lice and her response was, “We don’t notify parents unless there’s a outbreak of 3 or more students. The only child who had lice was treated during Thanksgiving break so there was no reason to send a note home.” and “If they have live lice, they are not allowed to be here but if they have nits, it’s okay.”
I was floored.
It took 4 grueling MONTHS to finally get rid of these lice. My mom got it. My sister got it. Nothing worked until my cousin let me in on her secret weapon…olive oil and a professional, stainless steel lice comb. I felt the heavens open and could hear the angels sing. I had found the answer to any mother’s prayer and it worked like a charm.
After feeling pretty awesome with my new mommy superpower, I begin to itch. I thought it was the typical haven’t-had-time-to-shower itch but I couldn’t stand it anymore and needed a check. My evil nemesis had returned and vengeance was upon me…literally.
My mom showed me a news clip of San Diego schools not notifying parents at the first sign of nits. As I’m sitting here with my olive-oiled hair up in a plastic bag and dying to scratch my entire head, I’m infuriated by all the money I’ve spent on products because the school didn’t notify us.
What do you think? Do you think San Diego County schools should enforce a “No Nits” policy?
Or do you want to be notified at the first whiff of this fast-multiplying pest?
Oh no! That is my worst fear (next to a spider infestation in my house). I just heard about the olive oil trick, and I’m adding a bit of pure tea tree oil to my daughter’s spray bottle when I brush her hair each morning. Lice are supposedly repelled by mint, eucalyptus or tea tree oil…but I’m sure they’ll find a way around it eventually. I hope you get rid of it in one treatment!!!
I thought boiling hot vinegar was also a good remedy? The properties in the vinegar dehydrate the lice. I remember my mother doing that to me as a kid and (not gonna lie) I kinda enjoyed the hair “treatment”.
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