Rough does not begin to describe my last 24 hours. Demoralizing is the best I can do.

Demoralizing: cause (someone) to lose confidence or hope; dispirit.

About 2 hours before we got to Wells Sidda brought me a strange looking bug she found on her brush. Almost looked like a tick. I didn’t want to know, but I did. That wretched little thing was a louse.

Never in my 40 years on this planet and nearly 14 years as a parent have I had lice. I didn’t even know what to look for. But a quick internet search confirmed my fears. This is something I have long dreaded as a plague I was sure I was not up to the task of conquering. 

So a quick stop at rite aid. A hundred dollars in supplies. I took on the task of cleaning all the kids and my hair while Deon tackled the job of laundering every stitch of cloth in the RV. I am eternally thankful laundromats. 

One by one I combed all our hair. Altogether with shampooing and laundry and remaking beds and combing it took 6 hours. It was after midnight before I was able to shoo all of my kids into bed. I found active, adult lice on 5 of us, and Deon just shaved his head and beard, so he doesn’t count. 

It was miserable. And I have a nagging feeling that this will never go away. That I am just not up to the intense, detail oriented task of getting rid of these little buggers. But I’ll comb twice a day, and repeat the poison product in 7-10 days, and pray for help.

On a positive note, the kids got 3 hours of much needed play time without me at the park today. And we took a drive to the beach, because I need to get out everyday. Being at this campground is a huge blessing right now, because we need the access to water to combat this problem. We will lick this.