Lice Family Feud: Finger-pointing at it's best !

[romten9]

I need some help from the Lice Experts. I'm in the middle of a
horrible family situation where finger-pointing

and blaming are rampant.

I'm a single grandfather who lives alone. My grandchildren (boy:
age 6 and girl: age 2) visit me regularly on

the weekends. They spend the night about twice a month.

About three months ago, my sister and her daughter spent the night at
my house and brought the lice. My

grandchildren picked them up on a subsequent visit.

Once we realized this happened, I performed all the usual actions:
washed all bedding, put all stuffed toys,

extra quilts, sleeping bags, etc, in black garbage bags and placed
them in my attic (I live in Jacksonville, Fl

and it gets hot up there.

This task wasn't that difficult because I don't have beds for the
kids. They sleep on sleeping bags which

delights my grandson. It's a big adventure for him. Once this
episode started, from the very beginning, I

closed off my bedroom and made it off-limits to the kids.

In addition, I have only one piece of 'comfort' furniture: An
easy-chair which I sprayed with commercial lice

spray. And I also sprayed my car.

I sprayed all rugs with insect spray; the kind you can get from Home
Depot in the large bottles with the squirt

gun attached. I don't know off-hand what the active ingredients
are, but I'm sure they're plenty lethal; at

least the roaches think so.

Well my kids (son and his wife) weren't nearly as aggressive in
treating the problem in their home so this

problem has been dragging on for about three months. Every time they
would pronounce the kids free and clear, I

would inspect one of them and find an adult or nit within seconds.
Once, I made the mistake of waiting until

I had the kids in my house before I inspected, so when I returned and
informed the parents they quickly responded

with 'They must have got them at your house'.

This happened about five weeks ago. I repeated the same steps all
over again to treat my house. It was

easier this time because:

- All the stuffed toys, sleeping bags, etc was still in the
attic, so I didn't need to do that again.

- My bedroom and another room was still off limits so they didn't
need to be disinfected.

Well, my son and his wife really love the free-babysitting service
that Grandpa provides so within a few weeks

they were calling me again wanting to know if I could keep the kids.
It really pained me to refuse them

because I love those kids. But I wasn't convinced that the lice
problem was cleared and I didn't want to be

blamed again, so I refused and held out for a few more weeks.

After about a month, they asked again and I said o.k. I've been
visiting the children and doing my own

inspections and I was satisfied that they were lice-free. My son
and his wife suddenly got serious and hired a

professional (they said). Anyway the kids looked good and I
couldn't see anything.

So last Friday (Sept 19), I took them for the night.

I forgot to mention that I'm nearly bald and regularly shave my head.
I made it a practice to shave at least

once a week during this time just to make sure I wasn't carrying any
of those little critters around.

I receive almost no visitors, mainly because I'm rarely home. If
I have one visitor a month, it's extremely

rare.

O.K. I'm cutting to the chase, but first a quick synopsis.

- I'm bringing the kids to the house for the first time in a
month.

- The house had been treated again after their last visit (when I
re-discovered the lice. I sprayed

furniture (my one chair), sprayed and vacuumed carpet, sprayed car,
washed blankets and pillows that they used on

their last visit.

- I'm bald; I shave my head once a week. A louse would starve
to death on my head.


Well, you all know where this is heading so I won't keep you in
suspense any longer.

I keep the kids Friday night and return them on Saturday. I pick
the kids up for church on Sunday morning

(parents don't wish to attend). The church nursery finds a nit on
my granddaughter (no adults) and all hell

breaks loose.

My son and his wife's position: 'You kept them one night and now
they've got lice again'.

My son and his wife are so angry at me that they have announced that
the grandkids can no longer stay at my home

because I WON'T take care of my problem and I am no longer welcome in
their home because I'm a 'walking louse

factory'.

O.K, you lice experts, I need some advice.

It's my understanding that a louse can't live more than three days if
it's not on a human head. Since I am

bald (and shave once a week) and since I have been ALONE in that house
for a month, I would think that,in that

month's time, all lice, nits, etc would die even if I didn't spray.

My daughter-in-law adamantly insists that nits must have been hiding
in the carpet (or on my one easy-chair which

I sprayed), and then hatched, grew into adults and laid more eggs
during that time frame; i.e. continually

perpetuating themselves, waiting to pounce upon my unsuspecting
grandchildren when they returned a month later.

Sounds pretty far-fetched to me but I'm not an expert which is why I'm
posting to this forum.

Would someone please:

- Let me know if I covered all the bases while treating my house
(based on my brief description) and add any

suggestions you might think of. I am not discounting the
possibility that maybe (however unlikely) the kids

did pick up lice again from my house.

- Verify or refute my daughter-in-law's claim. If you can refute
it, please provide me with some links

pointing me to some solid documentation that I can show my kids.

Lice are no fun, but it's terrible when family behaves this way.
I'm sure many of you (unfortunately) have

similar stories to tell.

Thanks for your help.

Pat Ickes

[Tsu Dho Nimh]

(romten9) wrote:


>About three months ago, my sister and her daughter spent the night at
>my house and brought the lice. My grandchildren picked them up on a subsequent visit.

>Well my kids (son and his wife) weren't nearly as aggressive in
>treating the problem in their home so this
>problem has been dragging on for about three months. Every time they
>would pronounce the kids free and clear, I
>would inspect one of them and find an adult or nit within seconds.


>I keep the kids Friday night and return them on Saturday. I pick
>the kids up for church on Sunday morning
>(parents don't wish to attend). The church nursery finds a nit on
>my granddaughter (no adults) and all hell breaks loose.


>My son and his wife's position: 'You kept them one night and now
>they've got lice again'.


>O.K, you lice experts, I need some advice.
>
>It's my understanding that a louse can't live more than three days if
>it's not on a human head.

Correct ... and

>My daughter-in-law adamantly insists that nits must have been hiding
>in the carpet (or on my one easy-chair which I sprayed), and then hatched

Nits do NOT hide in carpets, "nits" are eggs, GLUED to the shaft
of the hair by an adult. They can persist, DEAD, on the hsir of
a treated person ... one reasong for using the nit combs is so
you don't mistake them for hatchable nits.

>perpetuating themselves, waiting to pounce upon my unsuspecting
>grandchildren when they returned a month later.

> - Let me know if I covered all the bases while treating my house
>(based on my brief description) and add any

You did OVERKILL ... any adults


> - Verify or refute my daughter-in-law's claim. If you can refute
>it, please provide me with some links pointing me to some solid
> documentation that I can show my kids.

Tsu Dho Nimh

--
When businesses invoke the "protection of consumers," it's a lot like
politicians invoking morality and children - grab your wallet and/or
your kid and run for your life.

[char]

Tsu Dho Nimh > wrote in message >...
> (romten9) wrote:
>
>
> >About three months ago, my sister and her daughter spent the night at
> >my house and brought the lice. My grandchildren picked them up on a subsequent visit.
>
> >Well my kids (son and his wife) weren't nearly as aggressive in
> >treating the problem in their home so this
> >problem has been dragging on for about three months. Every time they
> >would pronounce the kids free and clear, I
> >would inspect one of them and find an adult or nit within seconds.
>
>
> >I keep the kids Friday night and return them on Saturday. I pick
> >the kids up for church on Sunday morning
> >(parents don't wish to attend). The church nursery finds a nit on
> >my granddaughter (no adults) and all hell breaks loose.
>
>
> >My son and his wife's position: 'You kept them one night and now
> >they've got lice again'.
>
>
> >O.K, you lice experts, I need some advice.
> >
> >It's my understanding that a louse can't live more than three days if
> >it's not on a human head.
>
> Correct ... and
>
> >My daughter-in-law adamantly insists that nits must have been hiding
> >in the carpet (or on my one easy-chair which I sprayed), and then hatched
>
> Nits do NOT hide in carpets, "nits" are eggs, GLUED to the shaft
> of the hair by an adult. They can persist, DEAD, on the hsir of
> a treated person ... one reasong for using the nit combs is so
> you don't mistake them for hatchable nits.
>
> >perpetuating themselves, waiting to pounce upon my unsuspecting
> >grandchildren when they returned a month later.
>
> > - Let me know if I covered all the bases while treating my house
> >(based on my brief description) and add any
>
> You did OVERKILL ... any adults
>
>
> > - Verify or refute my daughter-in-law's claim. If you can refute
> >it, please provide me with some links pointing me to some solid
> > documentation that I can show my kids.
>
> Tsu Dho Nimh

Its too bad that everyone has to reacte in such a manner, when we got
lice i had found out from my sister in law whose kids also had lice,
apparently we were passing it around the family and didnt know. But i
have to say, there was not any finger pointing. Lice is a common
childhood ailment, its not nice by far, but its just one of those
things. They have nothing to do with being clean or dirty, they don't
prefer a certain type of person.
I have read alot about this and lice cannot survive without there
host, the nits itself after 24 hours, so they would end up dying if
they were left on furniture or anything of that sort. They don't jump
or hop into other people hair. They are hard to remove.
Make sure that your daughter in law is using a lice killing product,
and you have to comb out the hair everyday for a least a couple weeks
to make sure all the live ones are out. You can still have nits on
your hair shaft and not be infected with lice. There are alot of home
methods to use as well, without using the pesticide methods, which i
dont particularly like. Lots of info on the subjuct on the internet.
Maybe print out a copy for your daughter-in-law and give it to her,
tell her its just for help. She may be blaming you because she is
embarressed or something. I know initially that is your first
reaction.
So well i hope everything works out well for you, its kind of a shame
to be finger-pointing each other when its not really as serious as you
may all think. And remember, its the children that are the most
important thing to worry about.

[romten9]

Tsu Dho Nimh > wrote in message >...
> (romten9) wrote:
>
>
> >About three months ago, my sister and her daughter spent the night at
> >my house and brought the lice. My grandchildren picked them up on a subsequent visit.
>
> >Well my kids (son and his wife) weren't nearly as aggressive in
> >treating the problem in their home so this
> >problem has been dragging on for about three months. Every time they
> >would pronounce the kids free and clear, I
> >would inspect one of them and find an adult or nit within seconds.
>
>
> >I keep the kids Friday night and return them on Saturday. I pick
> >the kids up for church on Sunday morning
> >(parents don't wish to attend). The church nursery finds a nit on
> >my granddaughter (no adults) and all hell breaks loose.
>
>
> >My son and his wife's position: 'You kept them one night and now
> >they've got lice again'.
>
>
> >O.K, you lice experts, I need some advice.
> >
> >It's my understanding that a louse can't live more than three days if
> >it's not on a human head.
>
> Correct ... and
>
> >My daughter-in-law adamantly insists that nits must have been hiding
> >in the carpet (or on my one easy-chair which I sprayed), and then hatched
>
> Nits do NOT hide in carpets, "nits" are eggs, GLUED to the shaft
> of the hair by an adult. They can persist, DEAD, on the hsir of
> a treated person ... one reasong for using the nit combs is so
> you don't mistake them for hatchable nits.
>
> >perpetuating themselves, waiting to pounce upon my unsuspecting
> >grandchildren when they returned a month later.
>
> > - Let me know if I covered all the bases while treating my house
> >(based on my brief description) and add any
>
> You did OVERKILL ... any adults
>
>
> > - Verify or refute my daughter-in-law's claim. If you can refute
> >it, please provide me with some links pointing me to some solid
> > documentation that I can show my kids.
>
> Tsu Dho Nimh


Thank you for your response. I appreciate it very much.

Pat

[Brandy Kurtz]

(romten9) wrote in message >...
> I need some help from the Lice Experts. I'm in the middle of a
> horrible family situation where finger-pointing
>
> and blaming are rampant.
>
> I'm a single grandfather who lives alone. My grandchildren (boy:
> age 6 and girl: age 2) visit me regularly on
>
> the weekends. They spend the night about twice a month.
>
> About three months ago, my sister and her daughter spent the night at
> my house and brought the lice.
>
> This happened about five weeks ago. I repeated the same steps all
> over again to treat my house. It was
>
> easier this time because:
>
> - All the stuffed toys, sleeping bags, etc was still in the
> attic, so I didn't need to do that again.
>
> - My bedroom and another room was still off limits so they didn't
> need to be disinfected.
>
> Well, my son and his wife really love the free-babysitting service
> that Grandpa provides so within a few weeks
>
> they were calling me again wanting to know if I could keep the kids.
> It really pained me to refuse them
>
> because I love those kids. But I wasn't convinced that the lice
> problem was cleared and I didn't want to be
>
> blamed again, so I refused and held out for a few more weeks.
>
> After about a month, they asked again and I said o.k. I've been
> visiting the children and doing my own
>
> inspections and I was satisfied that they were lice-free. My son
> and his wife suddenly got serious and hired a
>
> professional (they said). Anyway the kids looked good and I
> couldn't see anything.
>
> So last Friday (Sept 19), I took them for the night.
>
> I forgot to mention that I'm nearly bald and regularly shave my head.
> I made it a practice to shave at least
>
> once a week during this time just to make sure I wasn't carrying any
> of those little critters around.
>
> I receive almost no visitors, mainly because I'm rarely home. If
> I have one visitor a month, it's extremely
>
> rare.
>
> O.K. I'm cutting to the chase, but first a quick synopsis.
>
> - I'm bringing the kids to the house for the first time in a
> month.
>
> - The house had been treated again after their last visit (when I
> re-discovered the lice. I sprayed
>
> furniture (my one chair), sprayed and vacuumed carpet, sprayed car,
> washed blankets and pillows that they used on
>
> their last visit.
>
> - I'm bald; I shave my head once a week. A louse would starve
> to death on my head.
>
>
> Well, you all know where this is heading so I won't keep you in
> suspense any longer.
>
> I keep the kids Friday night and return them on Saturday. I pick
> the kids up for church on Sunday morning
>
> (parents don't wish to attend). The church nursery finds a nit on
> my granddaughter (no adults) and all hell
>
> breaks loose.
>
> My son and his wife's position: 'You kept them one night and now
> they've got lice again'.
>
> My son and his wife are so angry at me that they have announced that
> the grandkids can no longer stay at my home
>
> because I WON'T take care of my problem and I am no longer welcome in
> their home because I'm a 'walking louse
>
> factory'
>
> Thanks for your help.
>
> Pat Ickes
>


Oy, most people are not this persistent about eradicating lice, you
have done an excellent job (pat yourself on the back)! I just can't
imagine lice living host free for 5 weeks! Did your son and his wife
use these messures at home?? IMHO they are getting reinfested at home,
and you are a convient scapegoat. Sorry I don't have any websites to
back up this opinion. Seems like you have certainly done your part.
They could even be picking it up at school, have they even thought
about that before they start pointing fingers?

Brandy

[romten9]

(char) wrote in message >...
> Tsu Dho Nimh > wrote in message >...
> > (romten9) wrote:
> >
> >
> > >About three months ago, my sister and her daughter spent the night at
> > >my house and brought the lice. My grandchildren picked them up on a subsequent visit.
>
> > >Well my kids (son and his wife) weren't nearly as aggressive in
> > >treating the problem in their home so this
> > >problem has been dragging on for about three months. Every time they
> > >would pronounce the kids free and clear, I
> > >would inspect one of them and find an adult or nit within seconds.
> >
> >
> > >I keep the kids Friday night and return them on Saturday. I pick
> > >the kids up for church on Sunday morning
> > >(parents don't wish to attend). The church nursery finds a nit on
> > >my granddaughter (no adults) and all hell breaks loose.
> >
> >
> > >My son and his wife's position: 'You kept them one night and now
> > >they've got lice again'.
> >
> >
> > >O.K, you lice experts, I need some advice.
> > >
> > >It's my understanding that a louse can't live more than three days if
> > >it's not on a human head.
> >
> > Correct ... and
> >
> > >My daughter-in-law adamantly insists that nits must have been hiding
> > >in the carpet (or on my one easy-chair which I sprayed), and then hatched
> >
> > Nits do NOT hide in carpets, "nits" are eggs, GLUED to the shaft
> > of the hair by an adult. They can persist, DEAD, on the hsir of
> > a treated person ... one reasong for using the nit combs is so
> > you don't mistake them for hatchable nits.
> >
> > >perpetuating themselves, waiting to pounce upon my unsuspecting
> > >grandchildren when they returned a month later.
>
> > > - Let me know if I covered all the bases while treating my house
> > >(based on my brief description) and add any
> >
> > You did OVERKILL ... any adults
> >
> >
> > > - Verify or refute my daughter-in-law's claim. If you can refute
> > >it, please provide me with some links pointing me to some solid
> > > documentation that I can show my kids.
> >
> > Tsu Dho Nimh
>
> Its too bad that everyone has to reacte in such a manner, when we got
> lice i had found out from my sister in law whose kids also had lice,
> apparently we were passing it around the family and didnt know. But i
> have to say, there was not any finger pointing. Lice is a common
> childhood ailment, its not nice by far, but its just one of those
> things. They have nothing to do with being clean or dirty, they don't
> prefer a certain type of person.
> I have read alot about this and lice cannot survive without there
> host, the nits itself after 24 hours, so they would end up dying if
> they were left on furniture or anything of that sort. They don't jump
> or hop into other people hair. They are hard to remove.
> Make sure that your daughter in law is using a lice killing product,
> and you have to comb out the hair everyday for a least a couple weeks
> to make sure all the live ones are out. You can still have nits on
> your hair shaft and not be infected with lice. There are alot of home
> methods to use as well, without using the pesticide methods, which i
> dont particularly like. Lots of info on the subjuct on the internet.
> Maybe print out a copy for your daughter-in-law and give it to her,
> tell her its just for help. She may be blaming you because she is
> embarressed or something. I know initially that is your first
> reaction.
> So well i hope everything works out well for you, its kind of a shame
> to be finger-pointing each other when its not really as serious as you
> may all think. And remember, its the children that are the most
> important thing to worry about.

Thank you for your advice. I bought her a good nit comb about six
weeks ago, as well as soom good (non-toxic) treatment for the hair.
I just don't believe she has worked that hard at it. I've done some
research on the internet and most posts I've read says that you've
really got to persistantly search/comb for those nits every night
because they're so hard to see. She hasn't done that and that's why
they keep coming back. It's just easier to blame me.

Thanks, again.

Pat

[Liz]

(Brandy Kurtz) wrote in message >...
> (romten9) wrote in message >...
> > I need some help from the Lice Experts. I'm in the middle of a
> > horrible family situation where finger-pointing
> >
> > and blaming are rampant.
> >
> > I'm a single grandfather who lives alone. My grandchildren (boy:
> > age 6 and girl: age 2) visit me regularly on
> >
> > the weekends. They spend the night about twice a month.
> >
> > About three months ago, my sister and her daughter spent the night at
> > my house and brought the lice.
> >
> > This happened about five weeks ago. I repeated the same steps all
> > over again to treat my house. It was
> >
> > easier this time because:
> >
> > - All the stuffed toys, sleeping bags, etc was still in the
> > attic, so I didn't need to do that again.
> >
> > - My bedroom and another room was still off limits so they didn't
> > need to be disinfected.
> >
> > Well, my son and his wife really love the free-babysitting service
> > that Grandpa provides so within a few weeks
> >
> > they were calling me again wanting to know if I could keep the kids.
> > It really pained me to refuse them
> >
> > because I love those kids. But I wasn't convinced that the lice
> > problem was cleared and I didn't want to be
> >
> > blamed again, so I refused and held out for a few more weeks.
> >
> > After about a month, they asked again and I said o.k. I've been
> > visiting the children and doing my own
> >
> > inspections and I was satisfied that they were lice-free. My son
> > and his wife suddenly got serious and hired a
> >
> > professional (they said). Anyway the kids looked good and I
> > couldn't see anything.
> >
> > So last Friday (Sept 19), I took them for the night.
> >
> > I forgot to mention that I'm nearly bald and regularly shave my head.
> > I made it a practice to shave at least
> >
> > once a week during this time just to make sure I wasn't carrying any
> > of those little critters around.
> >
> > I receive almost no visitors, mainly because I'm rarely home. If
> > I have one visitor a month, it's extremely
> >
> > rare.
> >
> > O.K. I'm cutting to the chase, but first a quick synopsis.
> >
> > - I'm bringing the kids to the house for the first time in a
> > month.
> >
> > - The house had been treated again after their last visit (when I
> > re-discovered the lice. I sprayed
> >
> > furniture (my one chair), sprayed and vacuumed carpet, sprayed car,
> > washed blankets and pillows that they used on
> >
> > their last visit.
> >
> > - I'm bald; I shave my head once a week. A louse would starve
> > to death on my head.
> >
> >
> > Well, you all know where this is heading so I won't keep you in
> > suspense any longer.
> >
> > I keep the kids Friday night and return them on Saturday. I pick
> > the kids up for church on Sunday morning
> >
> > (parents don't wish to attend). The church nursery finds a nit on
> > my granddaughter (no adults) and all hell
> >
> > breaks loose.
> >
> > My son and his wife's position: 'You kept them one night and now
> > they've got lice again'.
> >
> > My son and his wife are so angry at me that they have announced that
> > the grandkids can no longer stay at my home
> >
> > because I WON'T take care of my problem and I am no longer welcome in
> > their home because I'm a 'walking louse
> >
> > factory'
> >
> > Thanks for your help.
> >
> > Pat Ickes
> >
>
>
> Oy, most people are not this persistent about eradicating lice, you
> have done an excellent job (pat yourself on the back)! I just can't
> imagine lice living host free for 5 weeks! Did your son and his wife
> use these messures at home?? IMHO they are getting reinfested at home,
> and you are a convient scapegoat. Sorry I don't have any websites to
> back up this opinion. Seems like you have certainly done your part.
> They could even be picking it up at school, have they even thought
> about that before they start pointing fingers?
>
> Brandy

As far as i am lead to believe lice can not live out of a head, they
need the heat,so as long as everyone has their head treated the
problem should be eradicated. Unless the kids are getting them at
school. Your local doctor surgery should have some information sheets
for you.