Bugs….I hate bugs…

I’m so in the mood to watch Starship Troopers right about now.  Something about watching human soldiers blowing bugs to bits sounds quite satisfying right now.  It would be so pleasing to see bug guts splattered everywhere across the screen.  I hate bugs.

For those of you who know, several years ago we had a bed bug problem.  It was horrible.  We felt like we were being eaten alive in our own beds, couch, and everywhere else.  The smell was horrid.  I was always itchy.  It was an ordeal that seemed to never end.

Well, we moved out and dealt with the bug problem, thinking this would be the end of bugs.  We killed them all!  Victory was ours to be had!  We would never have to worry about the bug problem again!  We had triumphed over the bugs and this would be the end of it!

Of course, this was not to be.  This time it was not bed bugs, but the dreaded things called head lice.  Corde got it and had such a horrible case that I’m surprised she didn’t scratch holes in her head.  Beekee got it too.  Time and time again we freed Corde from the dreaded lice problem.  We were in the clear!  Corde was clean!  Beekee was clean…or not.  The first time we did Corde’s hair, the bugs died and never came back for the most part.  Beekee, however, has been plagued again and again.  Because of my insistence that I would not cut Beekee’s hair until he decided he wanted it cut, I’ve been fighting this lice problem.

Of course, we’ve found out the hard way that the chemicals don’t really work.  Unless you can get every last egg out, they don’t go away.  We didn’t realize this.  We figured the eggs were dead and if we missed a couple, we’d be fine.  Boy were we wrong!  Even retreating again in a week like they instructed, the problem still came back!  The last time I treated his hair, I decided to take a good look as I was combing through.  There were still living bugs!  The chemicals definitely weren’t working to solve the problem.  It was time to give up and take drastic action because I wasn’t going to keep treating my kids with chemicals that don’t work, risking their health in the process.

We had decided to try olive oil at one point.  We soaked their hair, washed it out, and combed through.  That didn’t work!  This holistic cure-all for lice wasn’t working!  I was getting angry!  There were still living bugs in the hair after I was told it would suffocate the bugs and kill them!  I was ready to cry for my poor Beekee’s hair.  My poor Beekee was suffering and I was about to give it all up and chop off his locks.  I was so incredibly torn.

I did some research as a last ditch effort to save my Beekee’s hair and sanity.  As it turns out, we didn’t leave the olive oil on long enough.  That was a start.  I found out that I need to leave it on for at least two hours to be effective, longer if you can manage.  I also found out that this method doesn’t kill the eggs.  Therefore, unless you get them all out, they’re going to come back.  This would be problem number two.  As a result, that means I needed to do something about the eggs.  Picking each egg out of Beekee’s hair would take a lifetime and more patience than he’s got.  The combs weren’t getting them out so I’d have to get each one with my nails.  His hair is just too fine.

I was about ready to cry and give up again when I found a solution presented online in the form of vinegar!  Who knew vinegar would have so many uses?  In this case, the vinegar supposedly helps dissolve the glue that binds the egg to the hair.  Most of the eggs are supposed to just fall right out in the wash.  Isn’t that wonderful?  Those that don’t are supposed to be quite easy to pick out.  This could mean victory!

So here we are, sitting up late for a special "up past bed time" night.  The kids are sitting with olive oil in their hair and bags on their heads.  We’re going to let them sit with it for at least two hours.  Then we’re going to wash it out and soak with vinegar to hopefully get rid of the eggs.  If this works, Beekee should be looking pretty free and clear by the time we’re done.  If it works, we’re going to keep rinsing with vinegar for the next couple weeks, so even if there are adult bugs that survive the slaying, they’ll live through their life cycle and any eggs will wash out instead of hatching.  It’s not a brilliant plan, but it’s my last ditch effort to try and save Beekee’s hair.  If this doesn’t work, I give up.

However, it’s going to work.  I’m going to stay positive on this one.  I’m hopeful!

~*~Raven Night~*~