Hello Lice

So this happened in October, but I am just now able to blog about it, as I just stopped itching.... even though I told most of you about it already. This is a photo of Ryan, minutes before I made the discovery. Note the hockey hair.
I have been waiting for this, and knew that with five, it was only a matter of time and which one. I assumed it would have been one of the girls, but I was wrong. It was Ryan. The kids had come home with a note, as they often do, about someone having lice. I never have checked their heads after getting the ceremonial note, only b/c I don't think they're rubbing their heads on other childrens' heads!
So, Ryan is laying on MY bed one night, a Friday night, see photo above, and starts to complain of a bump near his ear. So, I look, and it looks like a spider bite....I investigate further to fine tiny little almost gnat/flea looking crawling bugs (I understand if you have to leave now :) ). So, of course, I rush him into the tub to have a closer look and get him the hell off my bed! I have been waiting for this so I yell to Ron to go get the lice stuff at the store...even though I am not entirely sure they ARE lice b/c I only see the baby lice, not the adult ones..and the baby ones, the ones just hatched, look similar to fleas. Then, I find them. Two live adult lice. YUCK! Ron and I spent TWO hours putting the RID on and combing all the live lice out. By the end, Ryan was crying, I was almost crying...it was HORRIBLE. No doubt, the hockey hair made it bad, but I was more than thankful it wasn't one of the girls.
The next day, I buzzed his hair off and for the next week he stayed home and I had to pick all the nits, the eggs, out of his hair. The RID kind that Ron got, only killed live lice, not eggs..why would they sell such a thing? Who ARE these people who only want to kill the live lice?????? So, if you don't get the eggs out, they hatch and BAM! Reinfestation. I cannot tell you how much cleaning and damage control I did to prevent the others from getting it. In the end, we got a prescription solution called ovide, that killed the live lice AND the eggs. Apparently, not many people know about this b/c everyone is ashamed that their kid has lice...not me. Grossed out, yes. Ashamed, no. It happens. So, in summary...things I learned about lice:
1. Get the OTC RID that kills lice AND eggs to start with.
2. Buzz the affected child's head, or at least chop it all off b/c you are NEVER going to get all the eggs out if you don't...it is tooooo hard.
3. If you can, get a script for ovide as soon as you can....then you've killed the live lice and eggs...and you can concentrate on getting the dead eggs out.
4. Baby lice are little wingless creatures, but look similar to gnats/fleas, and adult ones look like sesame seeds, dark if they're filled with blood.
5. Lice combs do not work...they help with separating the hairs, but not with pulling the eggs out...get yourself a shop light, a pair of tweezers and a paper towel to put the eggs on and seal the paper towel up in a ziplock bag...and outside to the trash. You can pull the egg down the hair shaft and get rid of it, but personally, I ripped the whole hair out b/c I kept dropping the egg itself. Ryan didn't mind this at all.
6. Designate an "area" for the affected kid to lay/sit etc....so you're not reinfesting other areas every day in case you DID miss some live lice.
7. At bedtime, put another sheet on top of his bedding and wash it every morning.
8. When your kids' friends come over to ask him/her to play b/c they miss him/her and notice he/she hasn't been in school.....make sure your kid knows not to say loudly "I CAN'T PLAY, I HAVE LICE".
9. Keep checking your kids' heads for up to a month.
10. Say "goodbye, lice"!