The Homespun Heart is having a week long challenge to help get your house in order. I was excited to read about this challenge because I have started my fall cleaning. Usually every year around this time we clean out the clutter at our house. This started many years ago when I realized that Christmas was quickly approaching and the thought of more stuff (toys, decorations, games, books, etc…) coming into my home was overwhelming. I also use this time to switch out our summer and winter clothes and make a list of all the winter items we need this year. You would think that with six kids I wouldn’t have to buy anything, but those pesky older kids keep growing and need new coats and boots!
We had a fun few days in Williamsburg (more on that in another post) and I was planning on returning and jumping right into my fall cleaning. But, my plans have been derailed. On Saturday my two year old was scratching her head, I looked at her head to see what was bothering her and found a little bug in her hair. I picked it out and threw it away, thinking nothing of it.
Then on Sunday, after we had arrived in Williamsburg and were eating dinner I saw another black bug in her hair. I picked it out, threw it away, and forgot about it.
On Monday I picked several black bugs out of her hair and started to panic. When we returned to the hotel room I googled “black bugs in hair” and was surprised to find out they were lice! I thought lice were white! Of course, I had to figure this out while we were at a hotel 120 miles from our house and we are all sharing beds! My husband washed her hair and combed out more little bugs while I went through everyone else’s hair to see if they also had little friends. Thankfully they did not, but it only added to my confusion as to why my two year old would have them.
She does not go to daycare, play group, mom’s day out, and even missed Sunday school last week because we were camping. The only people she has had contact with are us, and no one else seems to have them. I spent most of Monday night in a dark hotel room, while everyone else slept, trying to educate myself on lice. I also started scratching my head compulsively, not because I had anything in my hair, but because her constant scratching and seeing all those bugs freaked me out. Yesterday my husband and oldest daughter joined my in the compulsive scratching. We do not have lice, but now all of a sudden everything itches! Last night in bed my legs even started to itch!
So today instead of continuing with my fall cleaning I will head to the doctor’s office and hopefully begin the process of killing these little suckers. Then I need to sterilize my home so that no one else gets them. We also need to unpack from our trip, do school, and eventually continue our fall cleaning.
Update: I took the before pictures and there were so many I put them in a separate post. You can view them here.
Have a great day and try not to scratch!
