Louse-y day

Yesterday, I washed Caroline's hair, combed out lice and what I hoped were nits. I washed (in hot water) her sheets, her blanket, her quilt, two pillows, about seven towels, all of our towels, the bath mats, her jacket and hat. I also vacuumed her mattress and the couch. In the middle of all that I had to take apart the vacuum cleaner to remove a sock that had gotten sucked in and stuck.

Because I did so much non-clothing laundry, I was out of casual, comfortable pants this morning. I woke up at 6:30 and hit the shower because I had to take Caroline to be checked at the school nurse's office and I had a GYN appointment later in the morning. We went to school, and damn if they didn' t find one nit about a quarter of an inch from her scalp. No school for Caroline today! Then they checked Bobby; he was clean. Then they checked me--one nit. F#$%^. Deep sigh. Time to go to the gynecologist, and what better way to make it really fun than to take two children along with me.

Bobby and Caroline spilled their snacks, bickered and shouted at each other the whole time at the doctor's office. I had arrived 15 minutes early. By 10:45, I still hadn't seen the doctor, and I was getting stressed because Caitlin gets out at 11:10. Add to that I had some concerns I wanted to discuss with the doctor (and I wasn't thrilled to have an audience) and it's getting dangerously close to that time of the month, and you end up with me in tears as the doctor finally comes into the exam room. Not exactly my finest moment. She was very nice about it and she worked quickly and thoroughly to allay my concerns. Then we had to sprint to get Caitlin.

After we got Caitlin, we made two stops (well, three if you count the brief potty break at home) for more lice paraphenalia. At Walgreen's I scored the Robi-comb. It's a fine-tooth comb that is supposed to zap the nits, and I'm hoping it works because I'd much rather do that than apply 16 ounces of Cetaphil to Caroline's head, comb that through and blow it dry. I do have to sanitize her sheets and pillows again, and mine too. And I did wash my comfy pants this morning, but all this extra laundry is putting me behind on the clothing.

I did find out that another kid in Caroline's class was sent home yesterday. The nurse told me they checked about 80 kids yesterday! What fun.

So, wish me luck as I try to get everything cleaned...again.

Here's hoping Caroline will be nit-free tomorrow. I would hate for her to miss the Halloween parade and the class party.