I wish buzz cuts were in fashion........
I am developing a raging hatred for head lice. I fantasize about finding new ways to kill them. Crushing them, slicing them in two, burning them to death with a red hot iron. Freezing them to death, boiling them in acid, taking them to Ruapehu and casting them into the volcanic fires. Pesticides and insecticides to commit lice genocide.
We saw our first one just after Christmas. I trotted down to the pharmacy, chatted with the girl there, and bought an environmentally-friendly tea-tree and lavender shampoo. I thought it would all be over in half an hour. Ha! I laugh (slightly manically) at my naivety now! My anti-lice armoury now includes 3 nit combs, 1 electric nit comb and two industrial strength pesticides - pesticides so strong they cause cancer, AIDS and leprosy if used more than once a year. We've used them once a fortnight for the last three months, of course. AND THE LICE ARE STILL ALIVE, GODDAMN THEM ALL TO THE DEEPEST, MOST INFERNAL HELL!!!!!
*deep breath*
When the girls were at daycare, the policy was that any child found with nits would be sent home and not allowed back until they were nit-free. My two never caught nits, because the policy was so well-enforced. But there's nothing like that at school, so every time Woo has been treated and declared a nit-free zone, she picks them up again. I actually asked her teacher to send out a note to the whole class asking parents to treat their kids, 'cos someone obviously isn't.
And much as I love Woo's waist-length thick, curly hair, it is nit heaven. It takes me two hours to comb it through with a nit comb, and I have to do it every 2-3 days for a fortnight to get rid of each infestation. Why not cut her hair? Well, it's not so much the length as the thickness, 'cos the little bastards live close to the scalp. She always has it plaited for school, anyway. Personally, I suspect the hats at after-school care - she is now under strict instructions not to wear any hat other than her own (which is currently being boil-washed).
*sigh* Perhaps this time she'll stay nit-free. I can hope for a miracle, can't I?