Lice Aren’t Nice
Bugs don’t care who you are or whether they are invited to visit. They make their home with the poor and the high class, with the homeless and the powerful. I had never stopped to think about this until we were infested. My view of bugs was that they are dirty and my clean house is no habitat for them! How wrong I was!
Our first school year in Montana, I met lice! What a sticky friend. They have an incredible ability to jump from one place to another; they must have suction cup feet and they super glue their eggs! They are not easily brushed off your shoulders. And their eggs have to be extracted, by pulling them down the entire shaft of hair to which they have been adhered. I thought lice was proliferated in those that don’t take care of themselves or keep themselves clean. Nope!
Lice makes its home on any head that is close enough for it to jump onto; from head to head during a hug, from hat to hair when sharing a cap, from brush to hair….
These bugs are tiny and make no sound. They reproduce rapidly when left unnoticed.
It was a lovely September morning, and I was standing at the bus stop with my daughter, when I noticed “crumbs” in her hair. I tried to brush them off and then I remembered a friend who had long ago described them to me like that… the nits (eggs) look like crumbs in the hair. I rushed her back to the house! I definitely did not want the bus rounding the corner and then having to explain to the bus driver my unfortunate discovery. We had friends, wonderful friends who still love us, that had stopped the night before to stay at our house on their way across the state. That I now had to share this awful discovery.
I frantically explained my hunch, sat my daughter on the back porch and ran to the store to buy everything I would need to rid us of this unwelcome critter. My traveling friends took the first shower with the awful smelling lice-killing shampoo and we sent them on their way. Now, I had to figure out what all to do.
Three daughters, lots of long hair… ugh! I spent weeks “picking” through their hair strand by strand trying to pull every last nit out of their hair. I had completely killed the bugs with terrible shampoos and crazy home remedies, but the eggs do not just go away. They are superglued to the base of single strands of hair. They are silver little ovals the size of an 8pt font comma! Tiny! Sticky! My hands were cracked and bleeding from the constant moisture, it took hours each day. Yes, I cut their hair shorter… but next time, I would cut it off!
We had to wash all bedding in hot water, I rewashed all clothes and hats. I put all the kids lovies and pillows in black plastic garbage bags and sealed them for 3 weeks, to kill the pesky bug. I did sit in that huge pile of laundry and cry, overwhelmed, alone (with 4 kids), and unfamiliar with how to handle this momentary nightmare.
One day, I finished picking one girl and wandered out to find the next one to pick… and no one was to be found, they had all hidden. I said, “Who wants to be nit picked?!” And then broke into laughter. The girls came our of hiding to look at me like I had grown a third eye…. I just discovered the meaning of a cliché! I lived it! I understood the meaning to my core! And it sucks! As a culture, we use the term “nit-picking” to mean scrutinizing every detail. If you know a “nit-picker”, it stinks to be under their scrutiny! To have a magnifying glass held up to the details of your life hurts. Combing through each detail with a fine-tooth comb, is time consuming and irritating! If you have ever found yourself the recipient of such behavior, I wish you a reprieve. If you have ever recognized that behavior in yourself… STOP IT! It is painful and no one wants to be around you!
Jesus came to show us grace! He could spend his time reminding us of all the ways that we have fallen short of his love for us, but instead, he loves us… every day, through every detail. Let’s follow Jesus’ lovely example and genuinely love those around us without magnifying, or actually drawing any attention to, their pesky faults!
Here’s the really frustrating little twist… the schools were overfilled here and we had just moved in, so we were not guaranteed spots at the local elementary school. For the first three weeks of school, I drove both girls to a school about 10 minutes away. Then a spot at our neighborhood school became available for my younger daughter. She started at the new school and the next morning is when I discovered the lice in my older daughter’s hair, but they all had it by the time I found it! So, I combed and picked, and picked and combed through their hair until I thought I had removed every awful nit… and then I returned them to school. My oldest was welcomed with a high five. The other daughter, the one at the new school, was taken to the nurses office where the aid put on a plastic gown and rubber gloves, got out a magnifying glass and began combing through her hair. Each time they found a single nit, she was sent home. We did this for 2 weeks straight before she was allowed back in school… finally, for her second day at this school! I don’t wonder why the lice are flourishing at the first school.
To make this even more humbling, I finally asked the teacher’s aid if she would pick through my hair, since I could not do it myself! (Good Lookin’ was on the road for most of this adventure!) Now, that is how you become the most popular new mother at the school… Sit in the teacher’s lounge under a magnifying glass! That aid, I will call her Mrs. Bug, is still my friend and I always look forward to seeing her. I will be forever grateful for her willingness to help me!
Somehow, my sense of humor stayed intact and though I was totally humbled, I had a new found compassion for those situations that isolate people. In hindsight, it was probably good that we were new to the area, fewer people actually knew us or wanted to know what was going on… and we did not contaminate anyone!
The good news, lice are not as scary as I thought, especially now that I know how to handle them. I do not wish them on anyone. But I will help pick your hair if you find yourself in the same situation!
Even remembering those pests makes my skin crawl and I am feeling a bit itchy!
But… bed bugs are way WORSE!!