Lice Lessons

No that is not a typo. Our family got lice about a month ago. Upon cutting hair for pictures I found it in Darin and then realized Tagg had it even worse, then found few nits in the other boys. Then to my horror my friend checked my hair and found them in mine. Yes, that's what I get for not putting more chemicals in and doing my hair after a new baby. I was disgusted and crazy for about 2 weeks. With vacuuming, washing, bagging, boiling, head checks and more I came to a realization about lice. So instead of dwelling on the bad things I decided to blog about 10 lessons I've learned from lice.

1. Money Change is Good - after realizing I had tons of laundry to do I opted to use the on site laundry mat here to help with the load. (yes pun intended). Of course it uses quarters, so I went to our change jar which we have been meaning to cash out and smoked through a $10 role of quarters. It does pay off to have change.

2. Glad to Have Boys - I went through a many of heads with a headlamp on and a fine toothed comb everyday for 10 days straight. Not to mention the poison shampoo I used on them. I was so glad I had boys with short hair. Although I should have cut Tagg's shorter, I was determined to go through his hair to keep his locks. I did just chop some short though. So glad Lydia didn't get it - I would have freaked!

3. Heavenly Father has a Sense of Humor - I was feeling overwhelmed as a mother of 5 and back to life with early school schedules and with a new baby. I was feeling like many things were being neglected and left behind and then we get lice. Very funny.

4. My House is Not that Clean - I love a clean organized house, but as of late, I'm not very good at it. After realizing all that I had to vacuum and clean and wash I was in over my head. It took me a good 1 1/2 hrs. to scour Tagg's room. After going room by room over the next couple of days, I realized how much more cleaning I should be doing.

5. True Friends - I found out who my true friends are; the ones that didn't shun me, the ones who had empathy and encouraged me, the ones who called to see how I was doing, the ones who weren't afraid to be near me, the ones who stand for 2 hours over your head picking nits out of your hair and they are 3 weeks postpartum (thanks Michelle!). Those are true friends!

6. I'm Bigger then this Bug - I caught 8 adult lice (yes disgusting) initially and put them in a ziploc bag. I would constantly walk by and look at them in their tiny form of grossness and wig out. On the third day I finally decided that I was bigger then the bug, yes literally, but also I was better then them. I was not going to let them mock me anymore and ruin my week, I was going to kill them and move on. I can handle this, I can get through this. So I promptly took the bag and threw it out with the trash. See ya suckers!

7. Mr. Mom's can Happen - I found out about this lice thing 3 days before Jared went back to work early. Panic set in on how I was suppose to function, get meals on the table, pick up kids and still clean like I never cleaned before. My more stable husband took a day off, when he really should have been prepping for teaching and did all the mom things. He made meals, he picked up kids, he took them to school, he helped me flip mattresses and clean, he rallied the troops to help, he looked through hair, he put kids to bed, he picked up where I couldn't. He is capable! Thanks Jared, I love you!!!

8. Don't Look Back - I was racking my brain trying to figure out where this came from, who we might have gotten it from, who we were with 2 weeks prior. I realized that I would most likely never know. I needed to deal with it, move on and make the best of it. I contacted all people that I thought should know. I bought the poison shampoo and treated everyone twice and me three. I was diligent at cleaning and checking and moved forward. If you waste time on the how then you don't focus on the now.

9. Empathy - I will now and forever have empathy for those who get lice. I always judged that they weren't vigilant cleaners or had bad hygiene. But when it happens to you, you feel dirty and disgusting and it's hard work to eradicate it. So if you ever get lice call me, I will feel your pain and encourage you on and you are not disgusting.

10. Perspective - having lice changed up my week drastically and put me in a tizzy. But a week later I found out that my good friend's NICU baby was losing his fight to live. They had to make the tough call to let him go. Here I was feeling sorry for myself and she was going through so much grief and pain. Lice was nothing. I finished up treatments and flew to Utah for her and the funeral. It put things into perspective.


So sure I was a little ashamed we got it. But we did and that's life. I learned some good things from it. So when lice comes your way...take it on!

Little Lydi

Our Little Lydi is not so little anymore. She had her 2 month check up and weighed in at 12.6 lbs. It pained me as always to watch her get her shots but she did pretty good. She is such a joy to have in our home and I still love dressing her in pink and purple. She started sleeping through the night at 8 weeks! Love it. She is a very good girl and the boys love her.

Finally caught a good smile on camera - these make everything else I'm dealing with worth it.

We love our sweet Lydia!