"Lice-Capades"

Does every family go through this one time in their lives?  Maybe more?  I thought we could dodge it...certainly it couldn't happen to us!...right? Well, it did.  And, now that it has happened to us, I'm believing that it probably will happen a few more times before our lives are through.  How easy it was to get and spread.  Whew.  "Lice-capades," as we've been referring to it, was a doozie, but we got through.

 

Here's how it all started...

Gavin's hair was getting a little "moppy" and needed a good cut.  We'd been chatting about it at the dinner table just the night before.  Almost every night I plop some dermatologist-prescribed medicine on his scalp for a scalp condition that he has that causes itchiness.  This particular night, he was itching and requested the medicine.  For us, to see him scratch at his head is just a sign that he needs the medicine, not that he has bugs crawling around. 

Well, I went to put on the medicine and was paying a little closer attention under the light and noticed nits (these are the clearish looking eggs on the hair shaft).  Um, what a shocker.  It hit me like a ton of bricks and it was 8:30 at night.  Next, came a look at Sophia, yep...she had it too. Somehow, Todd and I both managed to dodge the bullet as we looked at each other's scalps and saw nothing. I had to convince myself that we were in for a wild ride and that this was really happening.  I think we just couldn't believe it.  We sent them to bed and set up a game plan for the next day. 

 

After some googling on what to do, we decided that we would take the kids to the pediatrician the next day.  Some have asked why, but we weren't sure that the over-the-counter medicines were ok to use on a 3 year old and, honestly, we wanted someone to tell us this was a joke and it was something else.  So, we woke up early and Todd went to work as I shuttled the crew to the doctors for a confirmation.  Yes, it was, indeed, true.  I asked the doctor to check me again and she seemed to think I had a few nits as well.  This changed my whole mindset as I, originally thought I was in the clear and now I'm not so freaked out at touching my own kids (I think God did this on purpose so that I would get the job done). 

 

Off to the store we go and spend close to $100 to get rid of this.  The whole house got bagged or washed and I spent the entire day washing heads and picking through hair strands of Sophia, equaling close to 4 1/2 hours.  It was unreal.  At that point, it was decided that we would just buzz Gavin's head.  Todd had come home early and did the job, noticing that the hair was, literally, moving as he buzzed.  Ok, freaky.  When he came upstairs for the shampoo and pick-through, we saw how many bugs he had.  Oh my, how did I miss this?  How did I not know?  You could tell that eggs had already hatched and this is a time period of 2 weeks, oh my.  Not a good feeling.  If you are a mama, your heart will sink when/if this happens to you. 

 

We're past it all now.  At first, I was embarrassed.  I felt like I just failed as a mama.  How did I not prevent this?  How did I miss this?  How could I not know and help?  I've come to realize that it just happens and it happens to the best of us.  I'm hoping that, one day, this story will comfort another mama and ease your worries that you feel so alone.  Take it in stride and know you are not alone.  At first, I asked "why us?" and then I realized, "why not us?"  We are not more special than anyone else.  This is a normal part of life and it has made me a better person, and we are a better and stronger family because of it. 



Do I Look Pretty?

Recently I've been hearing a daily, "Do I look pretty?" question from Sophia.  Some days I just smile and think that she is such a doll and how cute she is as she twirls and bounces around like a little Disney wanna-be.  Other days, however, I cringe as my mind begins to spin thinking about all the little nuances behind the question itself.  Why does she need to ask this?  Doesn't she already know that she holds so much beauty, both inside and out and it's bursting from her?  Doesn't she realize the impact she has on others?  Does she see, in the mirror, what reflects to us every day? 

 

I, as her mama, feel extra protective as I just want her to know the beauty that lies within each of us.  Our world can sometimes skew our understanding of beautiful and I'm particular about making sure that she knows that outside beauty can be of all shapes, sizes, and colors and that we are all beautiful in our own way.  So, why is it that she feels the need to ask?  Is it that I haven't made myself clear?  I can tell you though, this girl has love in her heart that oozes out of her.  This is truly what makes her beautiful.  It blows my mind when I gaze upon her that I was part of the effort in bringing her into this world and that she contributes so much to our happiness.  Never could I imagine life without her, now that we've had the opportunity to have a glimpse of what life can be with her in it.

 

I reflect on all of this through our conversation one evening..

 

"Am I pretty?"-Sophia

 

"Yes, you are beautiful in so many ways, both inside and out." -Me

 

"Daddy, do you think I'm pretty?"-Sophia

 

"You know when I find you the most beautiful, Sophia?"-Daddy

 

"No." -Sophia (disappointed as she was hoping for a generic "yes, you are.")

 

"When you first wake up in the morning and your hair is a mess and you are staggering into the bathroom half asleep, because you look like YOU and you are so beautiful." -Daddy

 

"Oh" -Sophia (clearly processing this deep statement and a little confused as to how this could be so beautiful.  This is the point during dinner where I am completely and utterly in love with my husband as he boggles my mind with his kind words and his constant and undying love for us to say the perfect thing to his girls...I love him.)

 

"Do you know when I think you are most beautiful?" -Me

 

"No." -Sophia

 

"When you go over to a friend and share with them and when you show kindness to others.  You are so incredibly beautiful when you do kind things for others.  Your face is so pretty with your smile and you are just so, so beautiful." -Me (hoping she is finally seeing what we see when we look at her)

 

*silence* (She is thinking about our words and frozen, not sure how to respond)

 

"Do you know when I think you are the most beautiful Sophia?" -Gavin (Clearly he has taken on some lessons from his amazing father...I'm quite impressed at this point)

 

"No." -Sophia (Seemingly shocked that her brother could possibly find her beautiful)

 

"When you play with me.  You are so beautiful when you play with me."  -Gavin (Ok, yes.  I was tearing up a little at this point, looking over at my husband in awe at this comment.)

 

*smile* (She looks like the point has finally been driven home...we find her gorgeous, for so many reasons)

 

Life sure does have some rocky moments.  There are some in which we feel we will never conquer.  This topic just happens to be one of them.  I haven't always found myself to be beautiful, but I don't want that for my daughter.  I'm hoping that moments like these outweigh what the world depicts as "beautiful" preying on her self image.  Next time, I'll try not to wait for her to ask.  I'll just tell her what I see and hope that others will do the same.  Maybe between all of us, we can help her to know that she is one amazingly, beautiful girl...no matter what.

Under a Spell

Nighttime always ends with silly stories, cuddles, and kisses before our loves go fast asleep.  Usually, it's Todd or myself trying to get them to laugh or giggle in order to hopefully send them off to good dreams.  This night, Sophia was the one to make us burst out in laughter...

 

As I lay at her bedside, snorting into her ear, tickling her toes, and kissing her forehead, Sophia pops out with, "Daddy saved you from a spell." 

 

"Oh yea, what spell was I under?"  assuming this was going to be pretty interesting.

 

"You see this tattoo here on my arm?  You were like this vampire and you had a vampire spell.  Daddy saved you with a kiss."

 

"Well, thank goodness for that."  Ha! I don't think daddy would have come within 5 feet of me, if I were a vampire, but ok.

 

I'm guessing I would have looked a little like this.  Kind of like a cute vampire...are there any of those? I kind of wonder where all of this came from.  I would especially worry about the two different eye colors, but I think I'd get over that pretty quickly.



 

An Unchangeable Vote

Being furloughed today brought about relaxation and an opportunity to put Gavin on the bus and meet him getting off the bus, something I never get to do. This afternoon, he got off the bus and others around him came off, wearing "I voted" stickers.  Driving along the road, an hour later, Gavin began to share how it was an important day today, because he got to vote.  Here is our hilarious conversation about his first voting experience.

"What did you vote on?" I asked.

"We voted on the president, vice president, and treasurer of the school. There were some girls and boys to vote for.  I voted for all the girls." he said.

"Why did you only vote for the girls?" I asked.

"They're prettier. I can't change my vote mom.  It's already done and I just had to vote on the girls, because they are prettier."  he stated matter of factly.

"Oh, I see." I said, chuckling to myself.

"Like I already said, I can't change my vote. It's done.  The girls were pretty." He repeats.

"Oh."...me.

"I mean Daddy's handsome, Papa's handsome, all guys in our family are handsome, but I still can't change my vote. The girls were prettier." declared by the new and enthused voting school citizen.

Apparently, we have our priorities off a little when it comes to elections.  I guess he has some of his own opinions though and he's persistent about his rationales for who is the best candidate for the job.  Perhaps we'll have a more meaningful conversation about the voting process before any major elections come around. 

 

The "Dokie" Dance

Showin' off her moves is her main priority.  Sophia does not hesitate to move and groove to her own music, which she has, as of today, officially named the "dokie dance."  Yes folks, this does not make sense to you or me, but the "dokie dance" does, indeed, exist.  It involves constant movement of your tooshie as you say, "do do do, doo-doo do do, do do do...."  It can go on to infinity.  The whole while the "do dos" are mixed with laughter and arms waving.  The image below can help bring this dance to reality.  I guess Sophia is not the only one who can do it so naturally.

 

As you can see, this is a mind-boggling dance that only professionals attempt.  I have no idea how one doesn't shake out brain cells in the mean time! What fun having a girl can be! I really love it and I love watching the "dokie dance!" And, yes, we will be enrolling her in dance classes soon to give her a few other options.

 

The Tooth Fairy

Giggling, I hear it and I walk into her room wondering what she could possibly be up to.  I go in to snuggle up and love on her and she is all smiles.  Sophia is such a joy to be with, love on, laugh with.  I'm seriously in love with her.

Curled up next to her, she smiles her biggest smile and mentions that her teeth are extra sparkly tonight.  We chat about how Luna, "The Tooth Fairy" will be so proud of her sparkly teeth as that is what she uses to help the moon so bright...just in case you didn't know. She was introduced to this idea at the Y when they actually brought a REAL tooth fairy in to talk to the kids about how to care for your teeth.

I shared how proud I am of her many sparkling teeth and beautiful smile and she busts out with, "there was a banana and a strawberry and monkey who wanted a cup of water."  Ok, that was messed up and pretty funny! How does she make me laugh SO much?

I leave, smiling from ear to ear, wondering how I am so lucky to have such a girl in my life and I walk into Gavin's room to say goodnight. He, of course, was wondering why I was smiling so much.  I tell him Sophia's story and he says, "it's a true story."  Of course, now I'm curious what in the world he is talking about and then HE busts out with, "yeah, when we were at splish splash camp.  The Tooth Fairy was in a room with a man and a monkey."  Ok, is this for real?! I begin to laugh so hard that I'm crying.  He then says, "they gave the monkey a banana and squished it in his teeth."  I'm guessing they used this as a flossing opportunity!

Hilarious! Here's the vision I have and it's soooooo funny! 

First Day Mama

So, I officially have a son who is in kindergarten.  There are days when it just doesn't seem real and others when I look at him and I see a college student, like a fast forward screen-shot of a man, not a boy.

On his first day, he woke up and got dressed in his motorcycle shorts and green shirt as excited as I've ever seen him.  His backpack looked as big as him as he trotted off to the bus stop.  The grandparents came along and everyone was teary-eyed as we watched his little head, barely seeing his eyes, drive away on the bus.  Why is it that the whole world seems to stop at that moment?  A realization that nothing will be the same.  Ever again.  And, well, it hasn't.  It's been chaos, learning new rules, new teachers, new schedules. Amazingly enough, we've survived the first couple of weeks and we're on the educational road, but it all seems like such a blur.

I'm so thankful that God gave me such an opportunity to be a part of it all.  I'm a stronger mama for the experience and anxious for the journeys to come.  So, for now, I'll keep my chin up and I'll keep looking forward, hoping that each day will go a little slower than the day before so that I can cherish each second.