It happened. Remember, I said it was inevitable? Last week was a doozy: we had to combat head lice. I am happy to report that we are now lice free and probably have the cleanest carpets and bedding around. But it wasn’t easy.
There’s no question that lice are creepy and annoying, but they’re not harmful. They also don’t discriminate. They claim the scalps of school age children in the US, just as they do in France. I still managed to slip into full panic mode once the discovery was made. I wasn’t prepared and felt helpless and vulnerable.
Based on my completely irrational reaction I’ve decided to pass along to you what I’ve learned from my lice adventure. Hopefully, this will help you be better prepared for the inevitable.
How do you know when you have lice?
You will know. You might see little bugs. There might be a very itchy scalp, although not everyone itches since itching is actually an allergic reaction to the louses saliva. If you want to know what you are looking for just Google lice!
How do you know if there are nits?
Nits are lice eggs and look like tiny yellow, tan, or brown dots before they hatch. Nits look sort of like dandruff, only they can’t be removed by brushing or shaking them off.
Are you scratching your head yet?
What NOT to do once you discover you have lice
Don’t panic
Don’t buy every over–the-counter remedy like I did. I spent a lot of money and they didn’t work.
What you SHOULD do when you have lice
Buy The LiceMeister® Comb. Buy one NOW-before you have lice. When they do decide to show up you will be armed. This comb works.
If you must use products (we didn’t), only use non-toxic and pesticide free products.
Call a nitpicker to help comb through the hair. It’s a big investment so you need to decide if it’s worth it. I was very overwhelmed when we discovered all 5 of us had lice. This was the route we chose since we couldn’t imagine combing through each person’s hair (it literally takes hours).
If you don’t want to make the nitpicker investment, buzz off the hair so that it’s under 1/8th of an inch. We will be choosing this option if there’s a next time.
How to get rid of them
All towels, bedding, stuffed animals, hats and anything else that may have come in contact with our heads was placed in the dryer (on high heat) for 30-40 minutes.
All carpets and upholstered furniture were thoroughly vacuumed.
Scan through the hair with your eyes and look for nits. Pull them out (ewww, but necessary). Use your LiceMeister comb to help pull them out.
After the hair has been combed through and there are no nits or bugs, grab a bottle of olive oil. Using olive oil suffocates and smothers any remaining lice. We applied olive oil to our hair that night and slept with it. We combed our hair out in the morning with The LiceMeister® Comband then washed the out the olive oil.
Follow-up
Continue to comb through everyone’s hair daily and continue to do so for the next few weeks. Use the olive oil treatments every few days and keep checking. My guess is that I will comb thorough our hair every few days throughout the year.
Lice facts
Blow dryer heat isn’t hot enough to kill them.
The pesticide laden treatments filled with toxic chemicals and the all natural treatments probably won’t work.
Lice can’t jump from head to head. They spread by direct contact.
Be diligent and check those heads. Any other tricks for lice removal?
Disclaimer: This is my opinion and this is what worked for us. I am not a medical professional nor do I play one on TV. Please seek medical attention if you discover you have lice.
Disclosure: There is an Amazon Affiliate link in this post. If you use it to buy a product it will place a few pennies in my pocket. Thanks!
[Photo used under Creative Commons from D. Sharon Pruitt/Flickr]
When I was in elementary school we walked to school. There was really no other option except for an occasional ride from a parent. Not only did we walk, but we walked by ourselves (my sister was usually far in front of me, making sure no one saw us together). No adult supervision-just us kids, traffic, and LOTS of strangers. And we survived.
As much as I would like them to, it’s not logistically possible for my own children to walk to school. We live too far and there aren’t sidewalks on a few segments of the route. As a result, their “morning walk” consists of taking 15 steps to the bus stop and waiting for that big yellow bus to pull up so they can sit down and ride to school.
Just because walking might not be as convenient as it was when I was in school doesn’t mean walking is any less important. It’s probably more important now given the increase in childhood obesity rates- approximately 17% (or 12.5 million) of children and teens aged 2—19 years are obese.
On October 5th, kids and families from around the globe will be putting on their sneakers and walking or biking to school.
Why walk or bike?
Promotes physical activity.
It’s free.
It’s easy.
It’s healthy and green.
Helps prevent obesity.
Improves air quality – less cars on the road emitting toxic chemicals into the environment.
Promotes awareness within a community for safe routes for biking and walking.
What if it’s too far or logistically impossible to walk?
In our community the sidewalks are sporadic. There aren’t enough to get us from our home to school safely. So rather than walking the entire distance to the school we have a designated meeting area within walking distance of the school that allows families to park and walk together.
How to organize a walk or bike to school
Check with Walktoschool.org to see if an event has already been planned in your area. Register your own event with Walktoschool.org. Go to the site for ideas, suggestions and other information on how to make your event a success.
Need a little more encouragement?
Check out these students doing the Ped Safety Dance-
Hopefully your walking and biking to school won’t start and end on October 5th. Try to incorporate it into your weekly or monthly schedule.
Are you ready to walk or bike on October 5th? Do you regularly walk or bike to school or work? Does your community celebrate National Walk to School Day?
[Photo used under Creative Commons from D. Sharon Pruitt/Flickr]
As of today I will be taking a short staycation: a vacation where I won’t be blogging and I’ll be sticking pretty close to home (low carbon emissions during this vacation!) for a few days. During my staycation I’ll be spending time with my three lovely boys before the back-to-school frenzy hits hard next week. We have a few things to accomplish while we’re staycationing:
We will be getting much needed haircuts.
We will be trading in our highwaters (they came in handy this week during flooding from Hurricane Irene) for pants that actually fit.
We will be brushing our hair for possibly the first time all summer. I’m anticipating this task will take a minimum of one to two days to complete. Our hair looks something like the one on the right (our lips look nothing like either pair of lips).
Before signing off I wanted to share two interesting and important articles that were recently published. Take a look when you have a chance.
Mail Online reported : Scented laundry products (dryer sheets etc…) could be releasing cancer-causing chemicals when clothes are tumble-dried.
The New York Times reported: The anti-bacterial chemical, triclosan, raises safety issues. Triclosan is commonly found in anti-bacterial soaps, kitchen cutting boards and even a best-selling toothpaste, Colgate Total.
Although I won’t be posting much for a few days, there will still be a few not-to-be- missed things happening at Groovy Green Livin :
Don’t forget to enter the GIVEAWAY for a Kids Konserve reusable lunch sack with great coupons inside for free products. Entries will be accepted until midnight, August 30, 2011 and 5 winners will be selected. I will announce the winners on September 1, 2011.
We still have a few days to go before the school doors open for business and my list of “things to do” continues to grow. High on the list is investing in a few quality reusables for school lunches. We have quite a few, but after years of wear and tear (think lots of crushed carrots and blueberries) there are a few that are ready to be replaced. If your are in the same boat then this GIVEAWAY could help you out.
Reusable lunch sack GIVEAWAY to FIVE (5) Groovy Green Livin Readers
Annie’s Homegrown, Stonyfield YoKids, Honest Kids, and Seventh Generation have teamed up to help families toss their brown bags this back-to-school season by generously offering a FREE Kids Konserve lunch sack filled with coupons for FREE products to FIVE (5) lucky readers of Groovy Green Livin. They are also offering a free Kids Konserve lunch sack with the purchase of participating products through September 30, 2011.
These reusable lunch sacks are washable, made of recycled cotton and eliminate a great deal of waste that would otherwise occur from the use of plastic or paper lunch bags.
How to win
Leave me a comment in the blog comment section below letting me know how you make your lunches eco friendly.
Be sure to include your name (first name and last initial are fine) and email so I can contact you if you win. Anonymous or SPAM-ish comments will be trashed.
You must have a North American shipping address- no PO boxes.
Five lucky winners (drawn randomly via Random.org) will receive a Kids Konserve lunch sack with coupons. The winners will be notified directly via e-mail, and then listed on this post using first name only.
Contest closes at midnight EST, Wednesday, August 30, 2011. Winners will be announced on September 1, 2011. GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WINNERS: Lisa F., Lisa M., Lynn S., Gina F., Nina M.
For Additional Chances to Win
Please leave separate comments to let me know you have done any of the following:
Subscribe to Groovy Green Livin via RSS feed or Email
I find myself saying the same thing every year: “where did the summer go?” For some of us it’s back-to-school time; for others we have a few weeks to go (no school until after Labor Day for us). If you have children it’s impossible not to get caught up in the back-to-school frenzy. Here are a few eco Monday reminders to help you get over the back-to-school hump.
This month the Green Moms Carnival, hosted by Micaela over at Mindful Momma, has taken on the back-to-school topic. We gathered to share eco-friendly advice for heading back-to-school. You’ll find all sorts of reusable lunch box suggestions along with many other great tips!
Ethical Ocean has a great Green Back-to-School Shopping Guide filled with products to send your children back to school in green and eco-friendly style (10% off through September 1, 2011 with code GROOVYGREEN).
Stay tuned for a reusable GIVEAWAY coming tomorrow!
[Photo used under Creative Commons from Kevin Dooley/Flickr]
Lori Popkewitz Alper, Founder and Editor of Groovy Green Livin, provides eco-wellness consulting for businesses, schools, homes and individuals; and inspiration for a greener lifestyle through her Groovy Green Livin blog and website. Read more….
and then washed the out the olive oil.
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