Head lice......

I believe head lice are direct descendants from the devil. It has been a week since I discovered these absolutely useless critters residing on the heads of my children & myself. I do not understand the purpose of these things. They are not here to remind us to keep ourselves a little cleaner, as they much prefer a clean head. I guess that does say something about the cleanliness of my children, but still.....

Tomorrow (Tues.) marks the one week period since I waged full on war with these absolute pain in the ass bugs. And alas, I am still finding them in my girls hair.

Will it ever stop?? Will they ever be gone completely? Will life ever go back to normal, as we know it?

My kids were home for 4 days last week. We found them on Monday night when I shaved Zach's head. Then I ran out to the store, spent a small fortune on RID & lice combs. Then I slept on the couch so Kid wouldn't get them. Amazing how he didn't get them from us, but I will not question the how, just be thankful for the one lice-less head. Anyway, Tues. morning the war began. With Zach first, washing with Rid & some combing. Then Cheyenne, washing with Rid & a 3 hour session with the comb & the beloved 'nit-picking'. Then on to Briana, a 4 hour session with her. I did run out to the store to buy the house spray & the comb out gel for Briana. Then on to myself. The girls 'nit-picked' my head. Thankfully I did not have it as bad. I am guessing I got it because we share a brush, I should say we shared a brush & I laid on Cheyenne's bed every night after I read to Zach.

Then on Wed. we spent the day cleaning & bagging stuff up. I spent another small fortune in washing all bedding at the laundromat.

Thurs the kids washed their hair with shampoo that I added a ton of tea tree oil too. And another combing session. With me still finding nits & bugs. Friday the same but with less bugs. Sat. & Sun. the same combing. With me finding less & less bugs in Briana, but finding 7 live bugs on Cheyenne was rather depressing. Especially since the school specifically said she needed to be checked in the nurses office when she got to school. So, I kept her home today.

Another nights of combing brought only 1 or 2 bugs off Briana. And about 2 bugs off Cheyenne. I did end up finding 2 more bugs just before she went to bed. I also dried all their bedding, including pillows tonight. And I have vacuumed my couches multiple times. The paranoia in me has me vacuuming my couches before I sit on them, every.single.time.

I do not believe any of us is 'infested' anymore. We just have the few random bugs. I do realize that an infestation could happen again rather quickly. Which is why I am washing the towel they use after every shower, no reusing the towels by anyone. Drying their bedding every day after they get out of bed. Combing their hair every night after their shower & checking their head not only every morning before they leave for school, but picking through their hair multiple times through the day. Vacuuming the couches every day. And the next step in this battle, is a rewashing with Rid on Friday. With another long comb out session. Hopefully that will get the last of the devils minions.

I CANNOT take this anymore. I actually broke down & decided to spend the $30 on that Robi Comb thing. But Walmart did not have it. I couldn't stop at Walgreens on the way home because I had all the groceries. And I couldn't go out to buy it because Kid would have questioned where I was going. And he wouldn't understand the importance of this seemingly useless $30 expense. Especially because he is not working & we can't really afford the $30. But my sanity, the kids heads, & the schools, can't not afford it.

Cheyenne will be going to school tomorrow, whether I found bugs in her hair or not. She is 5 days behind. She is really going to struggle to get caught up. I cannot keep her home until they are completely gone, I just can't.

Ok, I just took a break from this to do some looking online. And this is how insane I am, I even went out to my van to get my flashlight so I could look through Briana's hair. Of course it must've tickled so she sat up in her sleep :P . Anyway, in my online reading, I came across this article about lice. And the thing that really caught my eye was this.......

Nits are not round, but oval. They are light-colored when first laid (yellowish or gray), but darken to a tan or coffee color as the embryo develops.

The reason this caught my eye, was because the last 2 times I combed Briana's hair, I didn't find many bugs but I did find alot of tiny brown looking things. I wasn't sure what they were, now I know, they are eggs ready to hatch, which means that she will have lice again, really soon. Damnit, I guess that is why it is so important to retreat with the Rid.

Also, the other thing I did, was look up Walgreens & called the 3 Walgreens closest to my house to see if they have the Robi Comb. One had a spot for it on the shelf but they are out of it. One had no idea whether they have it or not. And the 3rd said they didn't carry it at all. I also called CVS & they don't have it either. Shit, what am I going to do? I can't order it online because Kid will question why I am getting a package when we have no money. I can't go driving around looking for it because 1. I don't have the gas & 2. Kid is home, where can I tell him I am going?

GOD, I am soooooooooo frustrated, as you can tell *sigh* .

Anyway, enough about stupid gaoddamn head lice.

I guess I am just going to go to bed now. After a shower & a combing session on myself.