Haircuts and head lice

I took three fifths of the clan for haircuts today. For the first time the boys got regular little boy haircuts. No spikes, mohawks, or faux-hawks for them anymore. They look so grown up. And Katherine. Poor Katherine inherited my hair. Our hair is extremely thick with a lot of body. I don't style my hair so much as I whip it into submission. The problem with Katherine is she doesn't care a lick about her hair. I have to remind her to brush it. She wants to be a scientist when she grows up. Well, she's got the Einstein hair already. You've got to admire a 13 year old girl who is more interested in science and politics than she is in hair, make-up and (ohthankyoulord) boys.

Taking the children to get a haircut is a bit of an ordeal for me. A couple of years ago we went through a year of on and off head lice. Every time I would eradicate the little buggers they would come back and bring more friends to the party. I think it is safe to say that I have a full-blown phobia of head lice--hold on a minute while I pause to scratch my head vigorously---Anyway, when I finally thought I gotten rid of the lice once and for all I ventured out to the hair salon. I'm sure you can see where this is going.....Bingo! The hairdresser found lice on James. That was the single most humiliating moment of my life. So now before haircuts I slather the haircutees heads down with conditioner and meticulously comb through their hair with a nit comb. As a matter of fact anytime one of my children sits next to me or sits in my lap I start picking through their hair with my fingers. Think they might grow up to be little neurotics?

 

Just in case you were wondering, here's how you get rid of head lice---Hopefully you will never need this info--

1. Wash the infested head with Neutrogena T-Gel Shampoo

2. Slather head with coconut oil and comb with nit comb and nit pick with fingers

3. Wash all bedding in hot water and dry on high heat--if multiple children are infested this is worth a trip to the laundry mat

4. Thoroughly vacuum beds, couches, chair--anywhere the child(ren) may have sat

5. Bag up all stuffed toys and dolls tightly for a minimum of three days.

Repeat steps 1 and 2 every night for about 5 days. Let them sleep with the coconut oil in their hair. Coconut oil loosens the nits from the hair shaft and dissolves the exoskeleton of the lice and nymphs. It can be found in most health food stores or the organic section of your local grocery store.

Don't waste your money on Rid or Nix type products. They are toxic, they don't work very well, and they are expensive.

Peace,

Wendy

Comments

[Christy]

I still pick Anna's. I hope we NEVER have to live through that again!!!!! I miss you

[Jennifer]

Thanks! I will scratch my head for the rest of the day...or at least until this story gets out of my head!

[head lice treatment?]

Makes me itchy thinking about it again. SOOOOO glad that nightmare is behind us. It was so hard to fix too, which made me wanna pull my hair out. We were so close to just cutting off my daughters hair too...but she BEGGED not too..

so what can ya do. You shouldn't feel embarassed about having the lice either, they actually like CLEAN hair much more...but there is such a stigma these days.

Thanks for the article.

Scott