Oh no! That's louse-y news!

Yuck.
Ugh.
Blegh.
Please, no.

The BIG CATS have lice.

My preschool class has had a couple of cases in recent weeks.
Here we go again.

Check out any of the major health websites and you see mention after mention of early childhood classrooms.

Info from the Center for Disease Control begins:

Head lice are found worldwide. In the United States, infestation with head lice is most common among preschool children attending child care, elementary schoolchildren, and the household members of infested children.


WebMD begins:

Head lice are usually found in hair, most often on the back of the neck and behind the ears. Head lice are common in preschool and elementary school-age children. Adults can get them too, especially adults who live with children.


Kidshealth.org says:

The bane of many parents, the head louse is a tiny, wingless parasitic insect that lives among human hairs and feeds on extremely small amounts of blood drawn from the scalp. Although they may sound gross, lice (the plural of louse) are a very common problem, especially for kids ages 3 years to 12 years (girls more often than boys).

Lice are, unfortunately, very common in early childhood classrooms. Children are in close community, hugging, and sitting alongside each other.

Yes, louse-y news.

UGH!

Some of my young families are very anxious. Understandably.
I have had lice twice in my life; my boys, too. I know - truly, I know - the work involved in treating it. I remember vividly how I felt when I first had lice...when I found out that two of my three boys had them. UGH! Right to the barber we went, where I quietly but urgently explained about our situation. I insisted he cut my hair short, and the boys - buzz cuts. Voila!



Yes, louse-y news.

It's very much on the kids' minds. This during hospital play - one child peering at me, "You have worms in your ears." Her classmate pretends to look in my ear, too, "There are bugs in you!," she exclaims.

Little do they know, I am seeing those bugs everywhere, too!

UGH!

A girl shouts, "Let me show you some yoga!" I turn to see her somersault and then six friends join her, landing in a big, happy heap of entangled bodies.
What do I see? Entangled hair.

Greeting one another at gathering - full body embraces.
What do I see? Entangled hair.

Playing together, sharing toys, a child yells, "I need that toy," quick swish of arms! grab!
What do I see? Entangled hair!

Dancing, moving to Laurie Berkner, pretending to be dinosaurs fast asleep.
What do I see? Entangled hair.

Exciting things in the sensory table, a child squeezes in next to his classmates.
What do I see? Entangled hair.

Playing house or hospital or restaurant or cars and trucks, children playing so close together.
What do I see? Entangled hair.


UGH!

- jackets in shared cubbies
- simple t-shirt smocks
- stacking cots after nap
- piles of belongings when the aftercare kids arrive in the classroom
- soft pillows in the book corner
- the big cozy chair
- the gathering carpet
- our dress ups

The odds are not in our favor.

Yes, that's louse-y news.

(I bet you are scratching your head!)