SUCH A "Happy" Subject

"According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, an estimated 6 to 12 million Americans are infested with head lice each year."

"Twenty percent of all school-age children will have lice at some point during their school career."

"Head lice are parasites that affect the whole world, with children ages 3 to 10 the most susceptible, according to the National Library of Medicine."

So, why the quotes about head lice? You guessed it, C called tonight--three of her five kids are infested. The best part about all of this? I live 100 miles away from her!

This is more proof that the 'mother's curse' is alive, well, and working the way I want it to: C herself, had lice at the end of 7th grade. To say it was a pain in the ass to take care of, doesn't even come close. She has enough hair for two people and the amount of HOURS I spent 'picking nits' is not to be believed. This of course, was in addition to the number of hours and days it took me to clean the house once we found the problem. I was just lucky that the other daughter never had lice--and that C never had another case.

Everyone knows that head lice can be caught by anyone. The cleanliness of the home has NOTHING to do with whether or not you get lice--strictly, close contact with another person who is infested is the only way you can catch the little buggers. (Sharing combs and brushes or having the bugs migrate to an article of your clothing are other ways to catch them, too.) But this doesn't stop a person--read that as 'mother'--from feeling as if there was SOMETHING she could have done to prevent this horrible event from happening. And really, it is just the luck of the draw as to who does/doesn't get infested.

So, if you have never had head lice in your life, there are only a few reasons why:

--you don't have kids
--you home school your kids and they have no contact with the outside world
--you put your kids--and all of their belongings--through a pesticide bath before they are allowed into the house
--you and your children are bald--and have always been
--you and your children are of a mutant, alien race resistant to head lice

OR

--YOU ARE JUST PLAIN LUCKY!

If you are one of the lucky ones, I certainly hope your luck continues--cleaning up a lice infestation is one nasty, long, tiring job.