Poux (Lice)

I bet your heads are already itching. Just reading the word "poux" sends a little tickle down down the spine. We thought we were immune. We thought if we bathed, changed our bedding regularly and wore clean clothes we could escape the dreaded "poux". Fat chance when your kids are enrolled in a French school in France. Lice is at an epidemic proportion. Bi-weekly notes get sent home warning parents to check their children. Today Olivia learned that 4 of her closest friends had just finished battling lice. Now it's Olivia's turn. It wasn't easy to detect with her long thick blond hair. I had to call my neighbor who came right over with her special comb and shampoo. She made a sweep of Olivia's head and said, "Yes, the eggs have been planted. The nits are not there yet, so pull out all of the eggs and hopefully you can stop them from hatching!" Apparently the lice in this region have become almost immune from the special shampoo so everyone is vulnerable. I guess it's our "right of passage" into French family life. Aside from the shock and mountains of laundry that I'll be doing we will survive.