Days OFF

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NIECE M!!!!!

We stayed home yesterday, today and then again we have to stay home tomorrow..can you guess why.....

HEAD LICE!!!

On the way out of church on Sunday, with the sun shining so brightly, I looked down upon my sweet angelic Tuki, and what to my astonished eyes did see...NITS..Tons of them, except I didn't know what they were, but it didn't look good. So we came home, put her down for her nap and started doing major research on the net. YAOUSIE!!!! She had every sign of head lice. Upon her waking, I went to work and treated everything I could think of..probably 10+ loads of laundry on Sunday. I also treated her and me. I combed many, way too many dead adult louse out of her hair. None from mine. It was nauseating to think that these parasites were in my baby's hair. After doing much reading I realized I need to contact everyone she had been in contact with within the last week. It felt like (by what I have seen on TV) a positive AIDS victim calling all ex-lovers..No I have never needed to do this, it was just an analogy. I called my day care..that is why it is closed until Thursday. I guess all kids positive with a lice infection are still contagious 72 hours after treatment. Many of kids also had the lice, but the question is; did they give it to Tuks or did Tuks give it to them, and if she gave it to them, then where did she get it from.. I will never know for sure.

I called the YMCA and asked if there had been any reports. They said no, so I said consider this a report since we were there 3 times last week.

I also called the church since Tuks was in the nursery. The strongest negative reaction I had was the church secretary..why that always seems to be the case, I'll never understand.

Also now that I know what head lice is and what early symptoms look like, I will be much more on top of this. I am also going to try shampooing her in Tea tree oil shampoo since it has been stated to be a repellent to lice. Better to go at this proactively, preventively, rather than this reactively, treating later type of actions.

I also did a lot of reading about the life cycle of the head louse and saw that I will need to repeat treatments several more times in the next 2 -3 weeks. I may even run it out to 4.

The articles I read pointed out two important facts.

1. Parents are usually too ashamed about this extremely common parasite, (10 - 12 million people get it every year) so they don't report it and the cycle just keeps going. I admit I wrestled with shame, but thank goodness my factual side of my brain kicked in and screamed everyone needs to know to stop the cycle. This is also why I decided to post about it..to inform others

2.Parents tend to relax some of their vigilant effort in getting rid of the lice after they don't see any more adults..BIG MISTAKE...we need to keep at it for many more weeks to again break the cycle of the lice.

I then decided to get Tuks her first hair cut and have the hair dresser look for nits. She only found two. I brought our own combs etc., so as not to pass on nits to unsuspecting innocent people.
I posted two photos below of her haircut. I was always so afraid that she would lose her curl, but no fear, her hair is cuter than ever. I kept some of the cut hair. She did great in the chair. I gave her a sucker and it kept her joyfully occupied the whole time.

So we are off of work and school, and on not too great of weather days. Yesterday, it rained all day and then it snowed. Today it should warm up enough this afternoon that Tuks and I can go for a walk outside and then tomorrow it is suppose to be really nice. I can't wait. The down side of all this is that I am eating up valuable sick days that I wanted to save for when the girls come home from Haiti. I will just have to believe that it will all work out in God timing and in his way.



Too cute..that is all natural curl..I am jealous!!!!!


Again way too cute......