Sunday, March 22, 2009

Say it ain't so....

Please.

A few weeks ago, a note came home from school. Someone in Molly's class had lice. I didn't think much of it, although I checked her head. A week or so ago, another ominous note arrived. Another child had lice.

You know where I'm going with this, don't you?

Molly started complaining of an itchy head and upon checking it, discovered some unwelcome guests feasting off her scalp.

ARGH!!! Just shoot me now!

My brain--albiet quite mathematically challenged--began adding up the loads of laundry. All bedding. All clothing. All winter hats. All coats, winter and spring + 12 people = a really tired Mommy.

I then realized that the girls all use the same hair brush. Every day. And hair bows, barrettes, and headbands.

We put the hair brush in a boiling pot of water and thankfully, no little lice corpses rose to the top. We then checked all the girls' hair and they are all louse-free, even Jillian who sleeps in a double bed with Molly. I treated Jillian anyway, though.

I spent four hours this afternoon nit-picking. Yeah...I'm sure ya'll know that the lice eggs are called nits, and when you strain your eyes trying to see their tiny white deposits, you are nit-picking.

While Molly was lying on my lap getting nit-picked she said, "Mom, you are going on an egg hunt. You just get to do it before Easter!" That cracked me up--but I much prefer the egg hunts that end in chocolate.

On the upside, I DID get to spend four hours with my precious Molly lying on my lap and listening to her chatter. She told me several times that I was the best Mommy in the world and she was so happy that we adopted her. I love that girl! Another sweet moment was when Ryan found out that Molly had lice. He came over and rubbed his head on hers and said, "Molly, don't worry. If you have to get your head shaved, I'll shave mine, too." Molly glowed and didn't even notice the reference to getting her head shaved. ha.

Yes, I'll be checking his head, too.