Beauty Lice

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Last night Abby complained that her scalp itched. My first thought was LICE. I searched her hair and saw nothing, so I figured it was dandruff. I was going to douse her hair with vinegar next time we washed it, and that would give her some relief from dandruff. However, this morning she complained again about the itchy scalp and wanted to do the vinegar treatment before she went to school. As I looked through her hair with more thoroughness (Annie's song inspired me), I noticed a few lice nits in that silky blonde hair. Since the pharmacies don't open until mid-morning, I decided to apply the homemade lice treatment. Based on advice from EXPERTS on the internet , here's what I did: 1) doused her dry hair with a ton of mayonaise 2) wrapped her hair about 10 times with saran wrap 3) let it soak for about 5 hours 4) rinsed it out in the tub with 2 applications of dishwashing detergent and 1 application of regular shampoo 5) combed through to remove nits (I found about 10) 6) blew her hair dry on the hottest setting 7) ran my curling iron through every strand of hair

Abby was in a great mood during all the treatments. She explained on video about her new beauty treatment. I'll have to admit, her hair has a new silky sheen to it. Hopefully all the nits are gone and no one else will be infested.

I've done all the laundry and disinfected all the rooms of the house. One load of laundry in the washing machine takes about 1 1/2 - 2 hours to complete. Plus, the capacity of the washing machine is not very big. So it has been a long process of washing clothes, with many more to do!

Our first experience with lice was about 3 1/2 years ago in the states. Emma was a toddler, and when I gave her a bath I noticed bugs crawling in her hair. I honestly thought they were ants feasting on applesauce or other sticky stuff in her hair. However, these were not your normal ants, so I called a friend who worked in the public school system, and she came over and verified that we were dealing with lice. That was 9:00 p.m.

Being a first-time-dealing-with-lice mom, I was grossed out. I went into psycho-cleaning mode. I was overwhelmed at the cleaning task ahead, and it was getting late into the evening. Two teenage girls, Amy and Dana, came to my house and helped me disinfect everything. Anytime people say teenagers are lazy, good-for-nothings, I gladly tell about the two teens who fervently worked into the wee hours helping dininfect my lice-ridden house! My neighbor/friend Libby came over and worked through my hair with a nit comb while we watched David Letterman. I rather enjoyed the combing experience because I thought it felt great. I bought every pesticide known to man, and I must've spent $75 in medical shampoos, aerosal sprays, etc.

When today's news of lice hit, it really didn't stress me out. This time around I'm trying the mayonaise treatment. By doing so, I'll save money and time. I'll let you know if it gets all those varmits!