Nitpicking

Of all that is holy in this world, I never, never, ever wanted to deal with lice. Now I have. I lived - barely.

*This is a long saga, so get comfortable.

Last Tuesday evening - just as we’re getting back into the swing of routine after our busy two weeks, Nora was laying her head on my lap and I randomly combed my hand through the back of her head. I saw them. Them. Lice. Absolutely minuscule bugs chilling in my child’s hair. And eggs.

I pride myself on a clean house. Bugs don’t really bother me. Bugs in my child’s hair freak me the hell out. I knew not to freak out in front of Nora so I silently screamed at Tim and he ran out to get a lice kit. Specifically, we got Nix Ultra - which claims to kill both lice AND nits (eggs).

We didn’t even think or question and immediately doused Hannah’s head first - only because it was already her bedtime. I found about 5 (now dead) lice on her head. No nits. I kept Nora in the kitchen and threw a tarp down ( I didn’t know what I was doing ). Doused her head with the treatment and waited the 10 minutes while frantically texting a college friend who had been through this twice.

Once Hannah was asleep, Tim started stripping beds, throwing stuffed animals in garbage bags (either wash them or seal them for 3 weeks). Vacuuming furniture, spraying mattresses...

The directions said to next shampoo. Then we got to combing. Each swipe of the comb had some dead lice. I was horrified. HOW could I have let this slip by - and for how long??

Armed.

Give me a flipping break - that Mom ain’t smiling, dummies!

In early June, Olivia, who is watched by our sitter, unknowingly brought lice into our sitter’s home from camp. When we returned from vacation, end of June, our sitter said they had battled lice in their own hair. So I thought it was resolved. Shame on me for not even checking Nora! Not only was Nora infested, but we gave it to the sitter and her daughter again : (

Tuesday night I combed through Nora’s hair from about 8:30pm until she fell asleep on the living room floor at 11:15pm and I finished up in tears of exhaustion and lower back pain at 11:45pm. Then we vacuumed the floor and I tried to go to sleep at 12:30am. And of course Hannah wakes up at 1:30am. She went back to sleep and I think I finally calmed my head by 2:30am. Only to have Hannah wake up at 5:30am.

Needless to say I was a zombie on Wednesday. Tim and I took off work to keep combing through Nora’s hair and clean the house. I did two more comb-throughs of her Wednesday and continued to find a few nits.

Thursday the girls went back to the sitter and Thursday night I still found nits. The reason I’m the only one checking her head is because the combs in those kits are nearly worthless and Tim doesn’t have long fingernails. Those combs do not pull nits off hair strands - I was finding and pulling by hand! *Nits don’t just flake off in your hand - they stick to the hair stand, so you have to scrape it down/off the strand with your fingernail - or a professional comb.

My nerves had had enough and the weight of just ME finding and ridding all the nits was too much. I made an appointment at Lice Slayers on Friday at 4pm - the earliest we could get in.

It was in an old building, one employee was there and the space was very nice and simple - resembled a salon which I appreciated - made for a more comfortable experience.

Hannah’s head was clear, thank heavens. Nora still had nits and the employee proceeded the the treatment. First, she used what looked like an old vacuum with a brush head and spot-heated Nora’s head. Not sure how this is any better than just using a hair dryer at home... ?
AirAlle

Then she sprayed Nora’s hair down with some cream and got to combing - she used this comb that I thankfully ordered on Amazon. I saw other professionals use this comb and I watched her rake Nora’s entire head and that thing found all the tiny hiding nits!
Terminator Nit Comb

She ended spraying Nora’s head with a mint oil mixture and a shower cap - we were to wash her hair with Dawn when we got home. I felt a huge weight off my shoulders having a professional do a deeper dive on Nora. I don’t care that it cost $165 - worth it for my sanity. We have to keep checking Nora every 4 days for the next two weeks.

I’m anxious for my comb to arrive. I also purchased Fairy Tales Repel Spray as a preventative measure as school starts. From what I’ve read, lice are clinical proven to stay away from mint oil. Now that I can pause and think, I won’t use chemical OTC kits again - if we have another occurrence! It seems natural oils have their way with lice. The technician said many lice are becoming resistant to pesticides and chemicals - of course.

I did a check on Nora last night and she appears to be free. Once my comb arrives, I’ll do two thorough comb-throughs and hope we never have to deal with this again... !

Tim and I still appear to be clear. I use hair product every day and anecdotally have heard that will keep lice away. A teacher I know was told to wear product in his hair every day simply to ward off any lice threat - !

Hindsight is 20/20. I’m still mad at myself for not checking Nora’s head back when we learned the sitter had dealt with it. I also know to be more preventative - teach Nora “If it touches our hair, don’t share.” Do regular checks and use preventative products when a lice alert happens!

NOW I know the true meaning of “nitpicking” and will never use that word without shuddering again.

Professional Help:
The Lice Slayers
Simplicety
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