Thursday, October 15, 2009

Third Time's The Charm... I Hope

Kid was sent home for lice nits AGAIN today. This is the third time in 11 days. I am being as careful as I can possibly be. (I swear!) I spend up to 2 hours a day combing her hair. I wash and vacuum EVERYTHING.

This is maddening.
MADDENING.

Her school has a no nit policy. Which is actually not recommended by lice experts since it results in unnecessary absences and treatments. So even if she's been treated and it is a dead nit that I may have missed from earlier in the week... and there is only the one... which they pick off and bag... she still has to come home. She's missed four days of school out of eight.
So I got her home and I treated her hair again. I spent another hour and a half going through her hair.

And then I drove her right back to school.

If she is lice & nit free why can't she go back? Why should she have to miss another entire day of school when it only takes a couple of hours? She can't possibly spread lice today. Their policy only states that if you have lice or nits you must go home and be treated. Which I did.

Everyday she's sent home is 40 dollars of tuition in the toilet. And thinking about that started to piss me off. So I decided that there was no reason she couldn't go back. She was technically lice and nit free.

I guess I have been the first parent to attempt this. They had to print out their policy and read it line for line... and... guess what?.. I was right... it doesn't say anywhere that they have to stay home for 24 hours. I could tell the office manager was not into it. She actually said..."Well, if you are to take this at its word then I guess she can come back. But, that is assuming you did what you say you did and that you aren't lying." Why the fuck would I bring my daughter home for two hours, wash her hair (as it was visibly wet), and then bring her back just to ... what?... mess with them? What the hell? I don't particularly like to accused of lying. It's not like we started this lice infestation. She got them AT school. So I said "You can smell her head.. it smells like the treatment."

She declined.

I really hope that this is the end of it. I'm also pretty frustrated because I'm actually treating Kid's hair with the medicinal treatment and I know of several parents in her class that are using "alternative" methods. I get that... I do... but when the situation is this bad I do fear it's only prolonging the infestation and causing Kid to go through more treatments than she might otherwise need.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is CRAZY. You totally rock for bringing her back. Its not fair to her OR you that she has to miss so much for a dead lice. Really. Thats just crazy. (and trust me..i am totally grossed out by any little bugs that like to live on people. but enoughs enough).

On an alternate note, I look forward to your post this afternoon when Kid comes home with the REVISED policy...cause its just that kinda year :)

Robin said...

I can only imagine your frustration!!! Ugh!

Kelly said...

I would have totally cussed that lady out!! Not only that, I would have told them that they could reimburse me $40 for each day that they insisted she miss.

Mr Furious said...

They're lucky I'm not the one who took her back. I would have gone absolutely apeshit on the office. I am seething right now.

Mrs Furious said...

Marie,
LOL... you know they are going to send home a revised policy!

Robin,
I kind of want to kill.


Kelly,
Seriously. If they start a new policy that states she has to be out all day I will ask for my money back. I swear to God if they demand she stay home I am going to everything in my power to get out of our contract.

Michelle said...

That's shit! I bet they do change the policy!

I am glad you took her back as well!

Call me if you need anything.

Julie said...

Good for you taking her back to school.

Wow, I can not believe the woman said the thing about lying. You pay them a lot of money to send your child there. There should be much more respect given.

Andrea said...

This sucks for you/kid I really hope this is the last time.

wootini said...

I cannot believe the office manager accused you of lying - WTF??

You might want to give this stuff a try - google Fairy Tales Hair Care.

I have a horror of lice and all that an infestation entails so I use it on my daughter all school year, especially the leave-in conditioner spray. Can't say I have hard evidence that it works, but last spring there was an infestation in both her class and in her afterschool care (one of her best friends in fact) and we were spared.

inkelywinkely said...

I would be seriously hurting someone, or asking the school for my money back on the days they FORCED her to miss.

I'm hust a bitch, though.

STACI said...

I'm glad you took her back.

Here's my question...

What the HELL is the school doing to PREVENT the spreading/infestation of the lice?

Are THEY taking precautions? Intense cleaning?


I know when my boys were in Kindergarten a little girl had lice ALL. THE. TIME! The outbreaks were always starting with her. So, they MADE her wear her hair in a ponytail.
They also had all the kids put their coats & backpacks in garbage bags as soon as they entered the classroom. No one's stuff was to touch anyone else's. It helped.


Maybe suggest they do some DEEP INTENSE cleaning themselves before accusing you of lying. :P

Good luck!

lucinda said...

Did you see them get the nit from her hair an put it in the bag? Next time they accuse you of lying, accuse them of planting lice. Make them prove it came from her before you'll pick her up. Liar. liar pants on fire works both ways (rubber and glue)!The world is growing smaller with the number of people that are dead to me on your behalf:-)

SoonToBeMrsZ said...

When my oldest was in 3rd grade we went through the same thing. She had long hair and I could not keep those damned things away from her! The last time I treated her I sent her to school with her hair pulled into a tight ponytail hair gelled and hair spray, and the pony wrapped into a bun which was then sprayed too. The lice dont like the "dirty" hair ... she didn't come home with them after that, and once she stopped telling me 'so an so went home from lice today' I started letting her wear her hair down again BUT still sprayed it with hair spray! lol NOw she has short hair which we gel and spray every day for school (so does her younger sis in Kinder) and both of them have been lice free this year while the infestation is going on at school right now! I'm happy! I hope those nasty little buggers stay away for you this time!

inkelywinkely said...

Back when I was doing student teaching, I went to this school in the city and the boys had to have VERY short hair, and girls had to always have their hair pulled up, either in a pony or a braid. Also, completely clear plastic bags were all that were allowed- for lice prevention and safety.

They claimed to never have had an outbreak since enforcing those rules. My mom always braided my hair with two braids with gel in my hair. LOL...I didn't even take it down for two days until I had to wash it as I had LONG thin blond hair...too much work. LOL

Mrs Furious said...

Interesting ladies. I'm going to try the gel & hairspray. I am already braiding her hair.


Staci,
They did say long hair needs to be in braids... but... they all have coat hooks RIGHT next to each other and they don't have to put their stuff in garbage bags. I do think that is part of the problem.


Wootini,
thanks... I'm going to look for that.

Kiki said...

Lucinda...you're awesome and Mrs F, if someone called me a liar...I would freak out, I'm SO proud of you for keeping your cool and so glad that Kid saw you stick up for her!!! And at $40 a day...I'd be seeking some kind of restitution too!! Good luck and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you guys!

Unknown said...

maybe the teacher is planting the nits on her ;) jk!

I did wonder if they actually found a nit on her or if maybe they're overzealous in their inspection and maybe finding something else, like a piece of fuzz. Ugh, it sounds so frustrating. I would love to see a letter at the end of the year explaining why having the office manager accuse a parent of lying might be bad practice.

P/F said...

Ugh. Evan was me. Darn kid just sent an email to his teacher and I didn't check.

Mel said...

If you rinse her hair in vinegar, the acid in the vinegar dissolves the glue holding the nit to the hair. That's how I finally got them out of my daughters hair. Now everyday as soon as they get home, it's backpacks, coats, and whatever they wore to school into the dryer for at least 15 minutes. I know it sounds OCD but we've been lice free for 3 years. I hope they don't send your daughter home anymore.

Mrs Furious said...

Melissa,
thank you for the tips. I will dose her with vinegar tomorrow!!! She has tomorrow off so hopefully I can take the time to be 100% sure we've got EVERY last one of those suckers. And using just the dryer would save me tons of time. I've been running her stuff through the wash everyday. I feel like a laundress.


P/F,
I was wondering who Evan was ;)
I hope I have the guts to write them a detailed letter outlining the ways in which I feel that school has wronged us when we leave.


Kiki,
I'm glad I took her back. It makes her feel bad when she is sent home.

Anonymous said...

Right the hell on for taking her back to school! BRAVO for not cussing the front office bitches out. I would have thrown a hissy that burnt out their ear hair! And then felt sheepish later. I have three daughters with long hair and when the inevitable wave of lice hits at school we do tea tree oil and ponytails/buns as a preventative measure. So far so good. We have only had it once and there is a special shampoo that the Dr. prescribes that kills it dead the first time. Good Luck

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