Sunday, August 29, 2010

Survival is the name of the game at this pig pen

Well its been a long time since I last blogged ... almost 3 weeks ago.  The last time I blogged, Big Sissy, Bubby, and I had just spent the entire day at the Indiana State Fair thanks to the Indiana Soybean Alliance. It was an extremely hot day, but we sure had a blast.  

 

 


 

Little did I know as we were spending the day meeting the amazing 2010 Indiana State Fair Queen Denae Pyle, eating Hawaiian Shaved Ice, wearing pig noses as it was the Year of Pigs, and checking out the God Bless American sculpture depicting the American Gothic painting at the State Fair that survival would soon be the name of the game at this pig pen. 

When we went to the State Fair, I knew we had exactly one week before Big Sissy started second grade.   What I didn't know is that I would soon find head lice in her hair.  This changed every plan we had for the week before school started.  Although it appears life is now returning to normal ,whatever normal is at this pig pen, life has been anything but normal the last few weeks.  

All of our toys and clothing, which when you have 3 young children is essentially every possession you have, have been bagged up in trash bags. I have done more loads of laundry in the last few weeks than I have ever done in that period of time and every load of laundry has been done with hot water and dried on the hottest temperature on my dryer.  So far, I have only shrunk our brand new shower curtain as I didn't know it was dry clean only.  I limited everyone, including myself, to 5 outfits and one pair of pajamas that we washed everyday along with every one's sheets to help keep this under control.

The Farmer thought I was absolutely crazy, but I knew this was the only way to do it.  Thankfully, my mother was able to spend a few days with us as I would have completely lost my sanity through all of this if she had not been able to help me.  Let's face it .... no matter how old you get, there are some things only a mom can help make better. 


I keep telling myself that the positive of all of this is that our house has now been cleaned completely from top to bottom several times and we even had our curtains and drapes dry cleaned; however, I would not wish head lice on anyone.  We also have not allowed anyone to touch the toys that have been bagged up for the last few weeks as I am in no rush to add clutter back into this pig pen.  I have told the kids that we will only go through the bags one at a time and if we can't find a place for the toy, we will donate it to Goodwill.  

The other positive is that we were able to keep it contained to just Big Sissy as no one else in our house ever got it, knock on wood and Praise the Lord. 

I hate to jinx myself, but this is most definitely the worst thing I have been through as a parent.  (I know it could have been much worse and still could be; however, it is definitely very mentally and physically draining for a short period of time.)  From experience, I would guess that just reading this post is making your head itch ... Welcome to my world.  

Needless to say, it has been a few crazy weeks at this pig pen and to make matters worse I had to go on a 4 day business trip 2 days after Big Sissy started school.  Thankfully, we have survived and I did get to eat some real Maine lobster on my business trip and even brought some home for my family.  

 

So I hope the start of this school year is not a sign of things to come as the last few weeks have been enough for me for awhile ... quite awhile. 

My 2nd Grader, Big Sissy





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7 comments:

  1. As painful as this is for me to admit, I can totally, totally relate. My little sister brought home head lice from a party when I was in JUNIOR HIGH and 3 of 4 of us got the little suckers. Luckily it was during the summer so I didn't have the drama of going to school and telling my friends to check their heads! To this day, just talking about it makes my head itch. Sounds like you have it under control. What a way to end the summer!

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  2. Hi there

    Thanks for linking up to A Round Tuit! I sympathise with you with the head lice thing. My kids got them a few months back. Fortunately the natural shampoo treatment we got worked straight away, (even if it did take hours to comb through!). I was just relieved I didn't get them, since my hair is down to my waist - and would't have been any fun to treat and comb!! Growing up there was an awful stigma about having head lice, but now we live in the tropics, it's just an accepted thing that happens regularly!! I hope never again for us though - or you!!

    Have a lovely week!

    Jill @ Creating my way to Success
    http://jembellish.blogspot.com/

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  3. Never had to deal with head lice but it sounds like you did a good job and have it under control.

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  4. Ugh. I've never had to deal with head lice, but I have heard how hard it can be. Especially with that blonde hair - I heard you can't see the eggs very well! Sounds like you were VERY thorough, though! Hope things slow down soon.

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  5. Oh! What a tough couple weeks! I'm glad you got everything worked out and that is a great back-to-school picture. Your daughter is beautiful! P.S. I'm glad you're back! :)

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  6. Thanks for all of the support!! You guys are the greatest!!!

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  7. What a bummer for you, Heather!! But on the plus side, I loved your SF pics! :)

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