Head Lice - 'Tis the Season?

Anyone who has been through an episode of head lice infestation can certainly relate to my dismay at discovering a louse in our house (or Justin's hair).

The day the school sent out a parent newsletter with a paragraph titled "head lice occurrence" was when we made our creepy discovery. To make matters worse, Justin was scheduled for a class field trip the next morning. We tried to let Justin know that he wouldn't be able to go on the class trip (tears) and decided to make a trip to the pharmacy for a treatment potion the following morning.

The school director told Doug that we could certainly get Justin on the bus at 9:00 if we just got some special shampoo right away. Justin and I hurried to the Lekaren (pharmacy) about two blocks away. I asked the nice lady if she spoke English - nie was her reply. I would never call my communication at a time like this sign language. That is so much more sophisticated. This is more like charades and just as silly except for the urgency of the situation. I point to my head, pretend I'm shampooing and then point to Justin's head. She smiles, nods her head, and returns with a box labeled Parasidose anti-poux Shampooing that has a picture of a couple of little crawly things in a target circle. I paid my 137.40 SKK (about $5), smiled and said Da kjueme and we hurried home. My next task, get the hair shampooed, use the blow dryer and walk Justin to the bus for his trip to the Bratislava Zoo. I had two choices of language for the instructions: Slovak and French. I know neither. I looked real closely at the French instructions, after finding my reading glasses, and saw Mode' D'Emploi--appliquer 3 minutes, rincer, and that phrase was repeated. Looks like, wet hair, shampoo, wait three minutes, rinse, do it again...... How hard was that? The deed was done, we made it to school by 9:00 a.m.

Later I was talking with the school administration and heard that head lice is a huge problem in all of Central Europe. She also said the shampoo doesn't work, as the lice have developed resistance to the chemical. So much for having the deed done. I continued to wash sheets, towels, clothes and bedding (remember my tiny washer and no dryer), all the while wondering if we were going to be rid of them.

NO! They were still present the next day. Start the process again....... This time I called upon my very linguistically gifted Slovak friend to help me at the Lekaren. By mobile (cell) phone, she talked to the pharmacy clerk and explained the situation and was there any other product that would kill the lice. I watched her walk away and return with a box in her hand -there were some really happy children on the box with all their heads touching. Looked good to me. It was called Paranit and came with a lice comb (isn't that special). The price?-- 639.50 SKK ($30). Five times more than the last loser cheapo shampoo. My friend continued to review the instructions on the new product with the clerk while I forked over the cash. The language choices on the instructions were not too much better than the last product: Slovak or Czech.

I guess I am now an expert because I think (hope?) I've beaten these things. I've used shampoo on wet hair, this licorice-smelling stuff on dry hair and the special comb on Justin's head while he watches a movie and I painstakingly comb his scalp to remove anything that thinks it will come to life in a few days. We will repeat the process in about 5 days. I'm open to any stories or suggestions from my blog friends......