charily we roll along...

here's a fun topic of conversation for monday morning. i wasn't going to blog about this, as it is a somewhat, ah, sensitive subject. however, having noted april's word of the week, i see it as a sure sign that this little story was meant to be recorded for good times' sake. or some such. read on...

charily /adv./ gingerly, carefully. warily. guardedly. cautiously. also sparingly or frugally.

every morning, for the past week, i have risen from bed, enjoyed a cup of coffee, absorbed the first sobering twenty minutes of the daily news, taken three or four good, deep, soul-cleansing breaths, and commenced the business of charily picking. through. my. son's. head.

yes, you guessed it, jack has head lice. three days back to school after winter break, and he's scratching like a madman. (and i know, due to the incubation period of said head lice, he probably picked it up during winter break, not back at school.) but still, the irony.

never mind the fact that on day two back to school, he was *given* a brand new stocking cap, that someone had crocheted for all of the children. never mind that he got a purple hat and his friend got an orange hat, and they decided to trade. due to the incubation period, blah blah blah, he probably picked it up before the hat trade. but still.

before i continue, i must add that this comes on the heels of a crazy case of ringworm of the scalp. which he may, or may not, have picked up from a stray cat last fall. which did, undoubtedly, leave a 3 inch bald spot on the back of his head (oddly shaped like the entire African continent). head lice and ringworm of the scalp are not related. the bald spot becomes important later, however.

if you are still reading (and thank you, THANK YOU if you are still reading), we are back at day eight of the head lice experience, the second time i have tried to take him back to school, only to be turned away after the very kind and sympathetic admin assistant at school found two more buggers on his head. after i had charily (or not so charily) picked through his head already.

i have done the RID. i was at my least favorite store in the whole wide world last sunday night at 10:30 buying the RID. the 3-step-kit. i have washed and picked and combed and laundered and boiled for the past week. i was even tempted to try the mayonnaise thing, until i found out that i was supposed to leave the mayonnaise on his head for 4 to 6 hours!! i can't even type that out without gagging a little bit.

jack has had very short hair most of his life. at the hair cutting place, they know his clipper number. but i've resisted the head shaving thing for two reasons. number one, of course, is the aforementioned bald spot. number two is that the day before Christmas, we took the cousins for a portrait sitting, and i had jack's hair cut (keeping it longer in the back than i usually do because of said bald spot.) and i think it's the best haircut he's ever had!! i mean, see for yourself:



i am on the verge of throwing excuses one and two out the window. it's only hair, right? it WILL grow back.

i just fear that if we go the head shaving route, i will be left charily comforting my child when the kid who sits behind him tries to use the back of his head in a geography lesson.