Mama said knock the lice out……..
Lice, lice baby…….
Let’s talk about lice baby, let’s talk about you and me…….
You see where I am going with this?
But we should have this conversation! Yes. Why not? Because at one point, I was receiving multiple phone calls about this and I thought it should be shared with everyone.
Alright, here’s the deal. Lice is a part as life. It’s like a virus or bacteria. It’s not going anywhere. It is here to stay. It’s a friggin’ scavenger. There isn’t anything you or I can do about it. And to think that lice only happens to certain people, specifically people who have dirty hair, is just well plain SILLY. And I am being nice about that comment. It’s been here for 3-4 MILLION years and pretty much will still be here when we are not.
This is a public service announcement. You or your kid(s) MAY get lice.
GASP.
It’s a rite of passage. It will happen. Our mother’s did their best to get rid of them and doused us full of chemicals. Guess what? They got stronger and more resistant. Great! So what can you do about it? Nothing. Certainly not continue with the chemicals or worse yet–put friggin gasoline in your child’s hair. Yes, it’s listed as a cure on the internet.
Or maybe you can do something?!!!
Just like flu, strep, and 10 gazillion other bacteria and viruses that we work hard to prevent every day, why not do one simple thing once a week? Just like washing your hands. Eh? Who’s with me? Oh, and ps–the washing your hands is an analogy–and really should be done multiple times a day not just once a week. 🙂
OK—2 words—COMB OUT. That’s right, once a week–comb your kids hair out. We do it. On Sundays to be exact. Why? Because we got lice. Oh and we used fairy tale shampoos religiously when regularly and STILL picked it up. I have the picture where the transfer was made. Picture 2 cute little girls sitting on the couch over the holidays, having a blast and playing with a game, their heads ever so gracefully and slightly touching as they giggle away and savor the time they get to spend together.
I am not ashamed to admit, nor do I care. We got from relatives, who got it from their friends, who got it from the bus, who got it from their aunt’s house while sleeping over, who got it while riding on an airplane, who got it from?! Who knows and who cares. It’s impossible not to get but NOT impossible to keep out or at least catch super early if you follow my little guide to lice prevention.
Okay, ready?!!!
1. Buy the largest bottles of Pantene shampoo and conditioner that you can find. UPDATE–can be any bottle or brand. This just works easy and is super white. Forget about lice shampoos and organics. Use those daily but once a week use Pantene. To keep costs down and to make it easy—head to Costco and buy the biggest bottles you can find.
2. Buy a very good lice comb. We bought ours at BBrus on clearance. I think the metal combs are better. Here is the one that we have. And also keep a brush handy.
3. First shampoo their hair really good. Get it super clean. I usually do a few heavy duty scrubs and rinses.
4. Next, put a normal amount or a bit more than normal amount of conditioner in your kids hair. Take a regular brush and comb out the tangles. Trust me on this–you want to be super thorough with this so that they are completely tangle free. Otherwise, they will elbow you when you try to run that comb through.
5. Once you have all of your tangles out, get a giant glob of Pantene conditioner and put in their hair. I mean a lot. Next, take your lice comb and starting at the top of the roots on top of head, run your lice comb from the roots to end tip of hair. The white Pantene works great because the little lice/louse are a bit on the beige side and you can see them well if they are in there. I don’t bother to look very hard because even if 1 tiny nit gets in, I am comb them out so often they don’t stay! The Pantene also acts like quick sand so they can’t scurry away from you.
Are you with me? Will my children hate me for making them the poster children for a lice ad? Are you all scratching your head right now? I am. Something about discussion of lice triggers this impulse.
6. Okay, repeat this process through the WHOLE head of hair. I do a top to bottom and then I pull their hair up and comb from base of roots on neck to ends. I do not leave a hair untouched or uncombed. Rinse and repeat if you are really feeling “buggy”.
I do this faithfully ONCE a week during Summer time and if I skip a few weeks I make sure to do it the second I hear anyone in town or the school has a case of it.
You don’t have to thank me or send me chocolate covered strawberries as gifts of your gratitude. Just stop secretly calling your friend’s friend’s camp to tell on them that their kid had lice, even though you know that person just paid a lot of money to have an entire lice team de-lice their kids and their house. Just stop that nonsense. Comb your kid out weekly. If you are really OCD then do it every few days. I promise you, lice will not make it past any more than just a short visit.
Summer is upon us. Lice is back. Do it. Please. And share with your friends so they can do it.
It’s been a while since I had a very random blog post. It felt good. I will try and do more.
Scratch my head. The end.