Everyone blames everyone else for their own head lice infestations! It is no-one’s fault. Head lice is 2nd to the common cold in kids. They just get lice. YEP, you read that right. THEY JUST GET LICE NOW. It is what it is. Gross? Yes. Scary? NO – it can be taken care of.
First, let’s just get to the hard part. They are increasingly resistant to pesticides. So, our old methods of pesticide treatments, whether over-the-counter or prescription, probably won’t work. Guess what? Olive oil doesn’t work either. Neither does mayonnaise or Listerine or blow drying or vacuuming it out or any of the other nasty or weird treatments you may find on the internet. So, what does work? COMBING IT OUT. Yes, combing and combing and combing it out. That works. Let me also note that combing it out with a stupid little plastic comb won’t work. You need a good comb. You need to be patient… and tedious… and use a good but safe product to help you.
Second, stop blaming the schools. Yes, it’s missed a lot at school and even at the doctor’s office. But it’s not the responsibility of the school to comb through your kids’ hair to search intensely for head lice. Just like it is your responsibility to take your kid to the doctor for a sickness, not the school’s. The school nurses are more worried about children with insulin schedules, seizure medications, psychiatric drugs, strep throat, the flu, hand/foot/mouth disease and a million other infections and illnesses that could be dangerous or fatal to your kids. A nasty, pesky and gross little bug that doesn’t spread disease is icky but not their main concern. Does it stink that schools are becoming more slack on the lice and nit policies? Yes, it does. But it doesn’t change the fact that probably 20-30% or more of the kids running around have head lice in your school right now. Also, 20-30% of kids at the store, church, your neighborhood, the park, sports activities, theme parks, etc have lice too!
Third, your kids are not dirty if they get head lice. It means your kids have friends. It means that your kids play and hug and whisper in each other’s ear. It means your kids take selfies and share hats. Lice-ta-gram and LiceBook and Licechat are great places to spot possible infestations with all the head to head contact pictures! (Haha!! I cracked myself up there!) It means your kids are just being kids. You may say that some parents are jerks and don’t say anything and it keeps spreading. I agree. But did you stop to think that they may be embarrassed? There’s still a nasty stigma attached to head lice. Some may think they are lice experts and have been self-treating their kids not realizing they are failing. Some may be treating their kids to no avail and struggling and stressing and feeling horrible about this nasty infestation that is taking up hours and days and weeks and months of their time. Some may not know yet that their kids have lice. OR they may be jerks just like some of you that drive on the interstate like maniacs. Jerks. Some people are just jerks. Some are not jerks.
Fourth, it is NOT running around your house like bed bugs or fleas. Thank Goodness!!! You are not getting it from your house. It is NOT running around the classroom at school or the classroom at church. Head lice can only live off of your head for 48 hours. They don’t burrow. They really can only be where your head has been for the last 48 hours. Nits can not hatch off of the head unless your house or the classroom is the same temperature as a human body. Then you’d have to lay down for that baby bug to crawl back into your hair. It is not going to run across a room and up your body to your head. By the way, head lice don’t live anywhere else on your body either. That would be a different type of lice…and we aren’t having that class right now 😊
Hey, one of my kids has had it twice and he’s only in second grade! I invented Lice Ladies and EVEN MY KIDS GET LICE! So, stop freaking out. IT IS WHAT IT IS!
There is help our there. Yes, my company is freaking awesome. Lice Ladies. You can read about it on my site or one of my franchisee’s sites. There are some other good companies out there too just like there are some quacks out there as in any business.
If you want my company to help you, call us at 1-888-924-5423 or email us at info@liceladiesatlanta.com or call the franchisee’s number or email on their site.
We love our company. We love our clients. We love our Lice Ladies. We can help. Lice Ladies Rules 😊
By: Jennie Lasater, founding owner of Lice Ladies