Parasite Palace

Truly, I feel as though I shouldn't bother to write if I don't have a picture. But, maybe it's just best not to post photos this week.

It all started last week ... not so long ago. My Friday did not go as planned. I began my race to get through my morning duties (doing some work, fixing breakfast, packing lunches, getting kids to school, etc.) so that I could go on a walk with a couple of friends. I felt as though I'd been under water with all the drama of the last couple of months and was really looking forward to a relaxing walk when the phone rang. (Some phone rings are more ominous than others, have you noticed?)

It was the call every parent loves, "Hi Tiffany. Ummm, we need you to come pick up Amira right away. We're pretty sure she has head lice." (INSERT LOOK OF SHOCK AND SILENT SCREAM HERE).

I sent Michael out to buy all the toxic chemical shampoo and special nit combs while I grabbed the itchy girl and dragged her down to the local public school. (Surely the health office there has experts on hand to identify the nasty critters). Sure enough, a few skittered across her scalp and a nit was pointed out to me. I had Rex and Valerie removed from class so they could be checked. The good news was that they were clean.

I spent the next 24 hours giving everyone in the family (whether they needed it or not) the RID treatment and comb through while tossing out pillows, bagging plush animals and costumes and boiling laundry. Michael pretty much shaved his head. Apparently Amira had recently contracted the critters, so they hadn't spread. After a day, I didn't get anything out of her hair. Although I imagined I was crawling with things I couldn't see. And each time I went to scratch my head, I was pretty sure it was because one had jumped on me to lay a nest.

Of course one treatment is not enough. We went through everyone's hair daily to check and kept everything real clean. Then Rex came down with a huge bunch of what appear to be flea bites all over. Now, the cat does favor his bed. But I had put Advantage on the cat and bunny already. I wish they made Advantage for kids so that I could put a spot on the backs of their necks and send them out into public.

So, more sheet boiling and a nice Fleabusters treatment for the bed, floor, rug, etc.

Flash forward to today. My chickens have diarrhea and are making that "honking/toot" sound that is usually indicative of gape worm. So, after giving the kids their 10 day after treatment of toxic shampoo, boiling all the bedding again I had to crawl out into the coop to squirt medicine down the chicken beaks. That's almost as much fun as giving medicine to a cat. Miraculously I don't have a bunch of scratches on me.

But I look around the house and think, how dirty are we? Yikes!!! Too many critters of the parasitic sort. Now I'm going to go wash all the crazy chemicals off me so I can get back to work in the kitchen ... Eeek!