Nit-Pickin'
by Nancy Van Laan
If you have ever been the unfortunates host to a party of lice, you know how down right awful it is... not just that but the thought of those awful little things on my head makes me want to scream in terror.
I am not one of those faint at heart girls who squeals every time she sees a mouse (actually I rather like rodents.. ask my friend Stacy) but I certainly do have some bones to pick with those parasites out there that may consider a extended stay anywhere near my body downright mortifying.. if not terrifying.
I cannot even imagine being a young child and getting lice.. though I had to endure almost daily lice checks in elementary school I was lucky enough to avoid the entire ordeal until I slipped up during gym in high school and used the wrong hairbrush and tada.. I had a whole lice family partying on my head. That was so far the only time In my life I have actually ran circles around the living room screaming like a little girl, my mom still enjoys telling the story about how she had to pick those nasty things off my head and how long it took to get them all out of my hair as at the time my hair was rather curly and easily down to my waist when wet.
With all that said Nit-Pickin' is actually a rather humorous account of a girl's experience with her own "cooties" that decided to move in where they don't belong. (I am not so sure where they SHOULD belong.. but someone's head is not the place for them... ick) Throughout the entire book she is looking for a cure for her crawling cooties and her family suggests some rather interesting cures.. all the while you can watch what those nasty little nits are up to on her head at the top of the page. If anyone ever suggests to you that mayo will kill lice.. they are sorely mistaken.
Though honestly this book makes me itch, just thinking about lice gives me the willies, it does a great job of not only making fun of the awful condition but for those kids out there that are unlucky enough to bring some home it may just make you feel a lot better about it, not to mention its really fun to watch what those lice are doing as the entire family is coming up with ways to get rid of them.
Nit-Pickin' is due to be released on July 1st and is available for preorder on Amazon!
I have one advanced reader copy to give away to one of my readers!
To enter :
- Leave a comment on this post. Tell me your craziest home remedy for lice or tell me your own personal story about your own lice experience or your child's. If you've never been unlucky enough to get them.. please share with us how you avoided the awful situation!
- No "i want to win" stuff without a little effort (and I do mean little!)
- Make sure there is a way for me to contact you - if your email address is not on your profile or you are not a blogger you may leave it in your comment or email it to me directly (angelaandconnor at gmail dot com) We have had to disqualify a lot of potential winners as of late as many people do not have emails available in their profiles or leave anonymous posts without any way to contact you.
- Please US entries only.
- To get extra credit :
- For an extra entry :
- Bloggers - Blog about this contest and leave me the link on your comment, or add me to your sidebar and let me know its there.
- Non Bloggers (or bloggers) subscribe to my mailing list/RSS feed and earn another entry!
- One extra credit per person. Please post your extra credit in a separate post.
- This contest will end April 13th at midnight!
45 Comments:
I have never had it personally which I suppose is amazing since I am the youngest of 7 kids and many of them had it at one time or another. In fact my one sister had to have all of her hair cut off into a pixie like cut from her waist because she was infested. Her curly hair never came back, it has been straight ever since.
The only cure I know of is the stuff you buy in the store. I think it is called Rid and comes with a nit comb.
This book looks like fun and I would love to be able to share it with my daughters classroom.
i got lice in 6th grade after i saw it jumping around in my friends hair. she didnt believe me when i told her i saw she had lice, she was so mad and embarrassed. we made up, but i ended up getting it too. had to do the shampoo treatment, then thankfully it was gone. great giveaway, thanks!
I don't know if I want to win this book! I had the worst experience as a child. I had nits (lot better word than headlice!) when I was 9. I had them forever but didn't tell my parents because I thought it was some sort of curse. Eventually my parents found out when my *POOR* older sister was going to french braid my hair upside down. I laid on the top bunk of our bed and flipped my hair upside down. She says that it was disgustingly infested. There were thousands of bugs. Yuck. I still itch to this day when I think of it. I hope my daughter never has to have them!
I still remember my "bully" telling me "You had headlice! Gross!" I was so embarrassed that the school knew!
Someone told me mayonaise works
When my three children were in grade school, my mother-in-law volunteered to take them for spring vacation. I had never had a break and was so looking forward to it. As soon as they left I decided to pamper myself with a warm bath. Washing my hair I pulled out a bug. It was a lice. I called my inlaws and sure enough all three kids had them. They immediately returned the children. I used a commercial medicine to get rid of them. I also heard that Listerine works. The hardest part is washing all clothing, bedding and stuffed animals.
I remember getting it in Kindergartin when I was a kid. I brought it home to my mother who had waist length hair. :( She had to cut it all off.
Carrie
mountainrailway at gmail dot com
In second grade there was a lice epidemic so everyone had to get the Qwell shampoo and bamboo combs. It was pretty nasty, the stuff smells like tar. But worse, since it was Hawaii, nearly everyone had black hair so you could just see the white eggs and hopping "ukus"...
This book is hilarious looking! I think my worst experience with a lice type creature was when I had a pet rat with a terrible case of red mites. The RID spray didnt work! ( I think its only for human lice). I ordered a special product from Australia because it is banned here in the USA because it causes your babies to have like, 4 heads and stuff. Anyway, when it came in the mail I was so excited! Who the heck answers the door to the DHL man and gets excited over Black Knight Roach Spray? I sprayed my cage one time and never saw a mite again. Those things were so gross I gagged daily. Poor ratty!
nice contest
Grandma said they soaked towels in turpentine and wrapped them on the kids' heads!!!!
my daughter was in 5th grade an had hair down to her waist,an she came home from school with a note from the nurse,that they "thought"she had nits or eggs,I too was a nurse but had never seen them myself,but,we bought all the stuff an spend hours cleaning etc,I spend over 4 hrs going over her head an long long hair with a nit comb an scrubed her head raw,the poor kid! My neighbor came over an looked an said she didnt think she had them after all,OMG we did all that for nothing,funny now but not then,vlbelk@hotmail.com
just go ahead and shave that head!
dansan826 at yahoo.com
Hi, I have never had lice nor have either of my two sons. In our house, my husband is the only one who has experienced them. Now, my niece had them big time and more than once. She had this huge head of thick hair. She reminds me of the girl in the book! Not only did she has tons of hair, but it was curly. Eventually, they had to cut off a lot of her hair to get rid of the nits. I would love to give her this book. I know she could laugh about it now! Please enter me in your drawing. Thanks, Cindi
jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com
I got it in grace school and the lice shampoo did not work so my mom used liquid laundry detergent, I remeber it was blue
There was a terrible outbreak of lice in my children's school this year. The licebusters.com group which came to inspect suggested wearing tea tree oil or garlic on the hair to prevent lice.
Thank goodnesss I have been ucky enough never to have had lice. I am pregnant with my first and I just cringed when I though of them coming home from school with lice. I know it will probably happen. I don't know how I avoided it, but I think I may need to bookmark this page so I have some good ideas if my child gets it.
Getting lice my freshman year in college was one of the most embarrassing, humiliating, and demoralizing experiences of my life. I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Lice shampoo got rid of it,but the whole dorm floor had to find out about it.
OMG! The horrible memories of nit picking! My youngest child was in day care when I found that he had lice. I called the school and they shut down the school for a day to clean, wash, wipe down, spray, etc. to make sure that all the lice were gone. It was terrible. My older two were in elementary school and also had to miss several days of school to take care of this problem. The schools were having an epidemic and nearly all the kids were effected. What a nightmare.
clenna@aol.com
My daughter caught lice from some of the neighbor's kids,and ever since she has not wanted to play with any of them.She told me mommy I'm afraid they'll give me bugs.
Never had lice thank goodness.
Wow!!
My daughter, bless her heart, had waist-length, rope thick hair when she started first grade. Soon enough, she came home with lice. We tried everything that was carried at the only pharmacy in town, then started in on home remedies. One was covering her head with olive oil, wrapping it in saran wrap and making her leave it on for 2-3 days (The theory was that the lice would suffocate). Well, she smelled like left over Italian food, and the little boogers were still there when we unwrapped her. We finally cut her hair to shoulder length and bought an electronic comb, kind of a modern day stun gun for lice. It took over 5 hours, but we got rid of each and every one of them. Then had to clean the rest of the house, throw out bedding and hair accessories... I hate lice!
Stacy.. my god.. roach spray for mites? LOLLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL No wonder the rats I got from you were mentally challenged.
LOLOLOLOL
Im going to go pee on myself now.
We've been fortunate and nobody in our house has ever gotten them but we know many friends that have. I guess we just lucked out. I've always made sure that everyone has cleaned and combed hair but I think it's pure luck. My friends were mortified too and I can't blame them. From what I hear, some great products are on the market that work quickly. I feel that the children will take their cue from the parents on how they handle it.
I have never had lice nor have either of my kids. The way I tried to avoid them with my daughter is told her to never share combs, brushes, headbands, pony tail holders, and barrets. She also takes her own pillow to sleep overs.
renee
penguinchick@comcast.net
Our family has never suffered from lice but as a nurse I have often volunteered at school for the duty of lice duty. We would go to each room and take kids one by one and check for lice. I felt bad for the ones who had to get a note to the office because everybody knew why they had to leave.
Our daughter had it. We used Nit, baby oil and vaseline. We had to treat ourselves also because she slept with us on occasion. Our adult hair soaked up the baby oil and vaseline but she had greasy hair for a week.
never had them, myself or my kids. Don't know that we have done anything special to avoid the either, rather lucky I'd guess!
No lice for us, but my daughter did have scabies! Another disgusting, itchy little creature. Lots of prescription cream for that, the only way!
Don't let your kids spend the night a friends house who has lice until it's been properly treated.
Sarah
bloominwild89@yahoo.com
I've never had any problems with lice and my children also. I guess we've just been lucky!
This year I had the absolute worst case of lice I have ever had in my life, and at 18 years old! I used a girls hairbrush (sooo dumb but my hair was messy after playing football) and boy did I get it. I bought kits and kits and kits I think I must have bought every kind, spent well over 300 dollars and it just would not come out until I finally started checking it every single day. I even tried vegetable oil and dog shampoo (which I heard worked) WRONG! I could totally use this book, I was just praying to find a way to get them to go away FAST!! The eggs just kept on coming, thank god it is finally gone!
please enter me :)
I have never had those little pests. I guess it has more to do with luck than being able to avoid them because at school you are exposed to other children. I guess the teachers keeping children at home probably worked as good as any. garrettsambo@aol.com
I feel the book should be in every class in America. I grew up in South La. where lice were very common; even though I never had them the children; were socially isolated. What a shame; though the only cure is Rid; with proper hygiene and sanitation for ridance; however the most sanitary may develop lice;Thanks SW
LICE!!! I have super curly natty hair and I always have. The year I got lice when I was a child was the worst in my life. My mom cut all my hair off. And the dog's. When I walked the dog, we were teased mercilessly. :(
My oldest came home with it in 4th grade. He was the only child in the whole school that had it. We ended up tracing it back to a Cub Scout hat someone had given us. Well, he managed to give it to his younger brother whom he shared a room with. He finaly got rid of it, but then about a month later it returned. We had to wash everything in their room and all stuffed animal were quarantined for several weeks. I'm getting itchy just thinking about it.
It was just pure luck that I didn't get lice. A friend of mine had lice in first grade and she had borrowed something of mine to wear, so I have no idea how I kept from getting them.
One of my kids asked to go to the eye doctor to have his eyes checked. I asked him if they checked his eyes at school. He replied, "No, they check our hair, but they don't check our eyes."
MILD dog flea shampoo
I never had lice but I remember my youngest sister got it a couple of times while I was growing up and I remember my mother using kerosene to kill the lice...YUCK!
No lice yet; growing up we learn not to share brushes.
Oh.. I had it, my kids had it. It was just all over.
NOW, the worst was when my oldest had it. I tried everything Rid X, Mayo, the works, and finally, by the time it was done. My daughter had shoulder length hair at some points, and two inch hair at other points. I was a young mom (24 when my daughter got this at age 6), so I ran next door, crying to an older mom, until she came over and "fixed" what I had done.
Needless to say I don't cut their hair ever, and those pictures of her in first grade are a beating to my Mommy -ego!
This is perfect....My daughter is in 3rd grade this year. Lice has went around this school since she was in kindergarten, we were fortunate not to get it...until...this year. Over Thanksgiving break I found nits in her hair, we sat on our front porch (we live on a busy street) picking nits from her hair. Doing the Nix treatment and washing everything in our home that wasn't glued down, including shampooing our carpet. After we thought that they were gone for good...Nope, Christmas break they were back again! So, I took matters into my own hands. I thought about how I didn't get lice back from over Thanksgiving even though I clearly had really long hair and I was always snuggling up with her. I use a flat iron!! That was it! : )
So, I broke out my flat iron, it goes to 200 degrees, I cranked it up and put it on several strands of hair that were wrapped with nits. They fell right off! I fried them off, lol. Then I also took a note from my sister n law and purchased Denerox dandruff shampoo and when going to school the next day she will wash her hair in this the night before. I also flat iron her hair everyday now, this seems to have done the trick. Ever since Christmas break we haven't seen a nit!! Thanks to whoever invented flat irons!
specialksmommy@yahoo.com
There is something worst, I guess. I have never had lice, but went thru a bout of scabies. They are transmitted the same way and lay eggs under your skin making a sore, they are soo small you cant see them. they get in your scalp and you cant apply the cream there so it is a real pain to get rid of these creatures.
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