Wednesday, February 11, 2009

LOUSE-Y TALES

Yesterday, while combing my daughter`s beautiful tresses, I stumbled upon-hold your breath- a Louse!  A fat dark brown louse crawling full speed. I gingerly pulled it out and showed it to my daughter.

 "EEEWWW! Mammma ! What`s that?"

 "A louse, what else? Who is your partner in your class?"

 "A boy!" she grimaced.

 I was frantic. I started combing her hair carefully, concentrating hard to find any such creepy crawlies. And then to my horror spotted two nits(I think that`s what the lice eggs are called). I ran a fine comb through her hair and out they came on its teeth and I showed  it to my daughter. She looked horrified and at the same time fascinated. 

"Oh ! So these will hatch now? After how many days Mamma?" 

I didn`t know. I mean I have no clue about their life span and have just concentrated on keeping away from them.

 "And now they won`t hatch. You threw their Mamma also!" 

I felt a little guilty looking at those nits and then caught hold of my sentimental side. These were out to suck my daughter`s blood!

 "And Mamma do the lice sit on the eggs to hatch them? Like the hen does?" 

I had no clue. 

"Well I hope they hatch into baby boys. What are boy lice called Mamma?" Boy Lice

And why hatch into boys? I was intrigued. Why would my daughter who adores girls in every shape and size( her youngest friend is a chubby 1 ½ year old) want baby boy lice?

 "Why do you want baby boy lice?" 

"Well they can`t lay eggs or make babies. So when they die I am free of lice! Simple." 
Simple logic eh?

 Psst…we have shampooed her hair twice with medicated shampoo and spent our waking hours frantically Looking for any further specimens!

59 comments:

Iya said...

eewww... what do i say to this..

How do we know said...

such an easy population control technique. Now u know why they are killing all the girls in Haryana and Punjab(sorry i know this is a sweet post and i was touched and amused,but the parallel threw itself on the form, and i cldnt help it) .

hope ur daughter is now lice free... i can imagine the horror.

Renu said...

very common problem in our school days:)

Piper .. said...

:) what a sweetheart she is! :) And this can be a nasty problem, if you dont take care of it,

SMRITI said...

This got me itching-my-head back to my school days :P Had a similar problem for a few months once and it was so shameful...Thank god for growing up and constant medicated shampoos...the Louse-Y army has been defeated on the battlegrounds of my scalp :P :)

Thank god ur angel is free of the devilish Louse

Sunshine said...

ouch! hope she is lice-free now! lol i like her logic tho! no girls so no reproduction...good population control technique! :)

D said...

By the end of this post I was scratching my head.Talk of lice and the like always does that to me.

my space said...

@Iya..eeewww it was while it lasted!

@anerimasi ..:-)

@HDWK..Fortunately looks like she is..yeah that is so very sad..

@Renu..ya i remember as kids we all have gone through this more than once..but surprisingly my daughter managed to be away from this for so long..

@piper..sweetheart is a debateable matter!! tell me about it!


@Smriti..lol! yeah poor T was mortified too..poor girl was itchy and yet embarrased..

@sunshine...looks like she is..

@D..That`s so true..right now they are a bigger scare to me than a bomb!

Sandhya said...

'no girls no population' - huh, good logic! Your daughter reminds me of my son when he was small. I was like you, not knowing what answer to give for their tricky quetions!

Every blog of yours is too good, Aarthi!

Just call me 'A' said...

baby boy lice :). ha ha.
every parent goes through this. I know my mom did with me and my sis. very typical of school days. key is to keep removing them and keeping the head clean...and of course if the problem persist having a delicate conversation with the other mother.

Nisha said...

wah...interesting reason for them to grow up into boys...i thought she was already being a granny and being partial to boys!!

DeeplyDip said...

like Iya all I can say is Ewwwww!!!!

A tag awaits you on my blog

Salomie said...

Ooh yes, I've suffered this a couple of times but not from school, we got it on the few occassions we went to our native place!!!

I used to switch to a medicated shampoo during those times, but we also had this other remedy. You get this special rectangle shaped comb with extremely fine teeth on one side. Mom used to oil my hair really well and then slowly run this comb from scalp to tip covering the entire head. You drag the lice out this way and then you kill them. Wash off the oil with the special shampoo.

Both shampoo & this comb method did the job completely.

Anonymous said...

You remind me old days.
mummmyyyyyyy

Mampi said...

Hahahahhaha.
You know what? Everymorning when I comb my daughter's long hair, I am extra cautious and wary about what I see in her hair. Thankfully I did not have to face this problem.
BUt I like her take on the 'Boy-Lice' thing.

Hope she will not invite these guests again.

Preeti Talwar said...

Ha ha I faced a similar problem with my daughter and couldn't awww sleep till they were none

Suchita said...

Ha ha ha love her logic. I had the misfortune of getting lice as an adult and boy oh boy was it embarrassing to go to a chemist to get that shampoo and tell him - no it's not for my children, I don't have children, it's for me!

Neha Tambe said...

Haha.. I am impressed that you managed to handle the situation without getting hyper!! Lice in my daughter's head is like a dreaded dream for me and I am panicking even when there is no reason for it.

Atulmaharaj said...

That was an interesting conversation. I've been asked to chop my hair many times for the same reason !

Puspanjalee said...

Kids are so full of questions. My boy is six and sometimes, these questions put me in tricky situations 😂

Pratikshya said...

Mehendi application helps.. Or sometimes kapoor.. Along with the oils and medicated shampoo

Radhika Acharya said...

Hahaha! What a cute post. Took me back to my Convent school days and the prolific lice-infested heads all around us!! Including mine! :) :)

Hill station Reader said...

This is common when children go to school and play with other street kids. Glad you took care of her and too preventative measures in early stage else they hurt a lot

The mommy blogger said...

Ha ha ha. Even I have written a post on similar lines in hindi.
Loved the boy lice concept.

- Ujjwal Mishra MywordsMywisdom

Shweta said...

Such a sweet post. This reminds me of the conversations I used to have with my mother and my grandma whenever they did the liberty of freeing my hair of lice! And yes, the infestations used to be horrible in my case. We even had separate lice brush to kill those blood-sucking parasites!I like your daughter's theory and I couldn't stop smiling, thinking about it!
How do lice hatch their eggs though? I might have to google that up!

Doctormommyspeaks said...

Took me back to school days n my mum scolding me "dont sit next to girls with long hair" u don't even know till date if there is a corelation 😂😂😂

Tina Basu said...

That is actually such a cute analogy. But lice are dangerous. Camphor with water or camphor with coconut oil works well, I had heard.

Haimanti said...

Oooo such an innocent answer 😊 My son has long hair and last year hr suffered terribly from this lousy situation... We actually had to chop off his hair... I hope your daughter's situation is under control!

Shipra Trivedi said...

That was an intelligent answer. I also faced a similar situation when my 5 year old said by picking them out, I was ruining their family. Lice family 🤐

my space said...

@ Preeti- I can imagine!

@Suchita..I bet that would have been really a `lousy' affair!!

@Neha This happened a long long time ago-this is an old post I shared! I am not sure if I`d be able to handle it now!

@Atulmaharaj..Oh no That would have been such a give away!!

@Puspanjalee Yea they can drive you up the wall with their questions!

@Pratikshya Yes camphor does help...didn`t know about mehendi

@Radhika so true-everyone had them !!

@Hill station Reader- Oh they can be a pain and how !

@Ujjwal would love to read it.


@Shweta Hahha do share your findings!!

@Doctormommy Yea my mum said the same and I told my daughter the same ! And you right no clue if its co-related :-)

@Tina Yes camphor helps

@Haimanti It was a long long time ago..Yes thankfully got it sorted without resorting to any extreme measures..


@ Shipra Hahaha They really come up with mind boggling observations !


Vashi said...

This was such a fun read & your daughter’s logic bang on!
Cutest chat ever even though lice creeps me out. 😜

Kinshoo Agrawal said...

haha .. what a logic. Kids have peculiar logic to everything. Hope she got rid of lice now.

my space said...

@Vashi they creeped me out too :-)

@Kinshoo Yea they do. Yes she did. this was many years ago- an old post

Sweta said...

Loved yours and your daughter's sweet conversation. Live are common problem in school and every one faces it at one point.

Amritha Srinath(themummastartup) said...

Children and their innocent logic is so on the point. While we adults complicate our situations, kids have an eye to view things differently and in a simple way. Always giving us easy life solutions, loved this post!

my space said...

@ Sweta Thank you :-)

@ Amritha Thank you Yes their views are so refreshing!

Sona said...

Loved your post and the way kids are smarter than adults these days!

Anecdotes of Mom Life said...

Glad you hand the medicated solution handy! And, kudos to your girl for a creative solution to the louse-y problem .

Preetjyot Kaur said...

Hahahaha! This was totally epic. I could seriously picturize the entire situation.

Tina Sequeira said...

Hahaha, Arti! If only we could think like kids, the world would be a nicer, and happier place. Very cute, amusing, and endearing!

Pooja Priyamvada said...

These are such common issues all of us parents have faced, well written

Ranjini said...

Ahhh the times my mom and Grandmom have spent picking lice from my head. Infested is the word!

Swati said...

Aww.. Such a cute conversation and the best is her logic of lice being a boy.... Loved it.

Pratibha said...

Please look up the Krya Lice Shampoo, it would certainly help! www.krya.in. I think they also have an oil that goes along with it that should be used as a regime.

Sonia Dogra said...

Children do think out of the box, don't they. Btw Ive had a tough time with my daughter once. I decided to get her head shaved.

wings to fly said...

That was really funny but quite intelligent from the daughter's part.

Rashi Roy said...

Ohh! Kids and their questions. She made a good point, logical also! Enjoyed reading the conversation.

Felicia Nazareth said...

This is so awesome. Kids are so curious and ask so many questions. Loved your post.

Varsh said...

Haha, I wish her dreams come true but she doesn't get those boy lice. Gosh they were a nuisance in school!

Harjeet Kaur said...

I am smiling while I read this. I thought lice were extinct now. My head used to be infested all the time and my mom used to mix Gamaxine powder with coconut oil and smear it on my scalp. The head wud itch and she wud tie a scarf on it. Next morning it was washed away nicely but respite only for a couple of days. Next Saturday again the same routine. I also became an expert in hunting for them.In Andhra, we get a wooden comb to pull away the nits as well.Your daughter asked really intelligent questions I must say :)

Madhu said...

Loved her logic. Quite an amusing read about an issue parents have dealt with at some point in time.

Thevagabond said...

Can't stop laughing at her logic ...kids definitely can turn the conversations magical
Ruchi Nasa https://thevagabond.me

YOGITA JOSHI said...

Kids these days arw smarter and very logical.... I loved reading the conversation... hope she is lice free now

Sindhu Vinod Narayan said...

Boy lice. Ha ha . It was an enjoyable read, loved how.the kid had the logic. #tmmreads

Sayali said...

Baby boy lice.... ROFL

Mayura Amarkant said...

Hahahahahaha....your little one is very cute and sensitive. I loved her innocent query on how the lice Mumma is no longer with her little ones. Children have a very different perspective to regular issues.
I visited your blog for the first time, thanks to MFA, must say that your content is very interesting. Keep writing :).

Shamik said...

Funny and interesting story. Thanks for sharing.

Aura Of Thoughts said...

Haha, that's a cute story and liked the take if questions by child.

Dipika said...

Hahaha! This is hilarious, I mean who could have fun at the scary moments just a mother can understand. Lice and all this conversation is truly funny.