Life Lessons from Lice

Over the summer, one of the more unpleasant experiences that our family dealt with was that of having several family members with head lice. The experience came at a most inconvenient time, as we were traveling to visit family and developed strep throat along the way. However, we dealt with the lice, and within a little over a week we were lice-free. Here are some unexpected lessons that I learned from our experience:

1) Keep calm and carry on: Try hard not to let something like lice make you and your family unhappy. Having lice is inconvenient, yucky, and takes persistence to get rid of. There is nothing terribly pleasant about the experience, and for a few weeks you will probably be paranoid about a reinfestation. However, none of these are reasons for you to be unhappy, or to make your family unhappy because of your paranoia. Take a deep breath, remind yourself that you’re doing the best that you can to keep things under control, and carry on with life. Tell yourself that something good will come of this experience, like being able to help others when they go through a similar trial in the future.

2) Swallowing your pride is hard to do: I had the undesirable task of calling everyone that we had been in contact with while having head lice, and I felt terribly guilty thinking that we might have unknowingly spread lice to our friends. Thankfully, it seems that we didn’t, and everyone that we called was extremely gracious.

3) Sometimes, it’s a good idea to seek outside help: I learned that there are “lice salons” in many cities that will do a “head check” for about $12 – money well spent in my opinion! If it turns out that you do have lice, you can also ask them to treat you, which is more expensive but is a great option if you are unsure of your ability to rid your family of them yourself. They will also set you up with a great metal comb, which is your best tool in getting rid of lice once and for all. Either way, skip the chemical treatments – they’re not always effective, and can be harmful to both children and adults.

4) Some things really are psychological: Every time I talk about our experience with lice, my head starts to feel itchy. I’ve even gone to be checked a couple of times since we were lice-free because I’m convinced that I have lice, only to find out that I don’t. It seems that I’ve been a bit traumatised by the whole experience, but I have learned that there truly is a mind-body connection!

So, nothing terribly deep from me on this Monday morning, but that’s where I am right now 🙂 I hop ethat you and your family have a great week!

Mary, Mother of peace, pray for us!