Well, it is safe to say I had a very interesting day. I was called at 9:30 by W who told me D had head lice. They were frantically trying to get it out of her hair and W as terrified that she would have it too.
We talked for 10 minutes about what to do and what I needed to do around the house then I went about vacuuming the entire place and washing all of D's clothes, stuffed animala, and both of our bedding.
I looked up some information on head lice and found some products to use and some general info. which was helpful and I passed them along via e-mail to W. W called and I talked w/ D a bit as they were heading to W's sister's house. After we hung up, D sent me a text which is pure gibberish, but so cute that she's trying to text me.
Anyway, just before 7 here (10 pm in Indiana), I get a call from D as they she is still up b/c they are putting treatment into her hair for the lice. She hangs up and then W calls back a few minutes later and she is in tears. She is sobbing to me about how she has lice as well and not only is she grossed out by it, but she thinks she may have to cut off most of her hair to get it out. W has been growing out her hair for some time and it looks wonderful, so I know she is crushed about this.
Hey if any of you w/ kids have gone through this, I'd LOVE to hear any suggestions that I may be able to pass on to W to help w/ her sitch.
I started to tell her about the articles I'd sent and she quickly said "Sue is a hairdresser and she said she doesn't know how to get them out w/out cutting my hair and my mom has been in elementary schools for years and she's never seen lice this bad on anyone." Right there, I stopped trying to "solve her problem" and just said, "yes, you are right" and let her keep talking. She told me that D was hysterically crying b/c they were combing out the lice and it pulled on her hair and the medicine stung her scalp a bit b/c her skin is still so tender (this didn't surprise me b/c when I treated myself today, it stung like mad when I got a bit in my eye on accident).
Anyway, we talked for about 7 minutes, then D called back just to say goodnight a few minutes later and that was it. W then started talking w/ me via texts and I did my best to affirm her feelings. I said things like "I know how upset you must be" and "I'm so very sorry b/c you have worked hard on your hair" and finally I said "I wish it was me and not you b/c my hair is so short and wouldn't cause much of a problem."
I hope these are good affirming statements as I really tried hard to not put the focus on me and what I thought. I tried to come across as listening and understanding her fear, anger, and frustration. However, now that I read them, I'm thinking I should have said, "this must be really hard on you" or something that didn't use "I" in it, but I'm not really sure if that was possible given today's circumstances.
Anyway, I hope I did well enough. W did send a final text saying she had cried so much she had a migraine and I replied asking if she had her medicine w/ her and that I hope she'll get rest. I also said there may be something else you'll discover tomorrow that will help w/out cutting all your hair. She didn't reply but again, I hope I am saying things correctly as affirming is not one of my strong points.
One positive is I didn't offer to help or say "is there anything I can do for you?" b/c that would be me trying to rescue her, so at least I was able to do that. Baby steps. Baby steps. Baby steps. They are small, but they all add up.
I haven't been able to check up on anyone else, so I hope all of you are doing well and I'll try to get in touch w/ your threads tomorrow. Just know I'm thinking about all of you.
