Am I being too precious/overreacting???

[misho]

So today I went to my parents house. My sister and her family (3 boys) were there too.

After being together for about 4 hours, my sister noticed my youngest nephew scratching his head and asked him "are you still scratching", he answered yes. I asked as a joke if he was scratching because he had nits and she answered that yes, in fact he does.

I was a bit taken aback and had to ask another 2 times until I realised she wasnt joking around.

Not only had I been mucking around with all 3 kids the entire afternoon, but I was combing their hair with my fingers (they have gorgeously thick hair which I adore).

She said she had treated him with nit shampoo this morning, but it was only the 1st time she washed his hair.. so he had another 2?? treatments to go. She hasn't even bothered to wash the other 2 kids's hair.

I was a bit upset and couldnt believe that she was so blase about it... she ended up calling me precious and said that I wouldnt get nits and so what if I did because all kids get them eventually.

So am I being too precious or have I every right to be a bit peeved over this??

I dont know what the process is with nits and the shampoo. I only ever had them once in year 3 but I remember my mum making a HUGE deal out of it. She even reported it to the school to ensure other mums were aware there was a lice breakout.

[Tangarine Mummy Machine]

I would be so angry. I went off at a community playgroup co-ordinator for trying to put a communal hat on dd. You can nver be too careful with nits.

[OM]

Your not over reacting at all - I would be fuming if someone did that to me. Not that I have ever had to deal with nits but I've heard they can be really a pain to get rid of so wouldn't want to experience that if I didn't have to.

[Chunkydunks]

I used to get upset with my sister and SIL for not informing us when their kids had nits....mind you both lots of kids are rarely without nits so in the end I just had to deal with it when I couldn't avoid them.

[Pinkzy]

I'd be peeved to.

I actually get really annoyed about how blase and lazy so many parents are about head lice. I know that sometimes nits are so, so hard to get rid of and it's a massive effort to treat and re-treat hair, wash, dry, fold bedding, wash backpacks, sterilise combs/brushes, treat the rest of the family etc, vacuum carpet and lounges etc...but it HAS to happen. If not for her kids sake, then for someone else's.

I had nits in grade 3 too and my mum made a huge deal of it with the school too. It was the general rule that if a child was found to have nits, then their parents are called to pick them up immediately and the child is not to return to school until the nits are gone. It wasn't being enforced though. So after my mum (and all her mates :p) complained, there was routine head inspections every week and the rules were strictly enforced :) I think all schools should be like this.

[LibranTwin]

Yeah I would be annoyed. It should be common courtesy for her to tell you. I remember it being a huge process for my mum when we were younger, took forever to comb all the nits out, and it was a pain for us too!

[Chunkydunks]

I'd be peeved to.

I actually get really annoyed about how blase and lazy so many parents are about head lice. I know that sometimes nits are so, so hard to get rid of and it's a massive effort to treat and re-treat hair, wash, dry, fold bedding, wash backpacks, sterilise combs/brushes, treat the rest of the family etc, vacuum carpet and lounges etc...but it HAS to happen. If not for her kids sake, then for someone else's.

I had nits in grade 3 too and my mum made a huge deal of it with the school too. It was the general rule that if a child was found to have nits, then their parents are called to pick them up immediately and the child is not to return to school until the nits are gone. It wasn't being enforced though. So after my mum (and all her mates :p) complained, there was routine head inspections every week and the rules were strictly enforced :) I think all schools should be like this.

I wish they were able to but they now can't because of discrimination and something about the physical contact.

[brogeybear]

No you are not being too precious! I would be REALLY mad too!

[Pinkzy]

I wish they were able to but they now can't because of discrimination and something about the physical contact.

That doesn't surprise me. It sucks that each school can't assign a health nurse who comes to the school once a week to do a check? I mean it'd be supervised by teachers and if it was a system where kids were lining up there'd be no way anything inappropriate could happen right?

It wouldn't even need to happen if every parent would just do the right thing.

[mum2bubba]

I'd be very angry at that. Shame on her.

[quitecontrary]

I think your sister should've told you that her son has nits - then you could've called it yourself as to whether the kids would be playing together today. My dd got a small infestation from her cousin once, and as she had short hair and not that much of it it was easy enough to de-bug her - my sis didn't realise before the kids had played together - adn we all got on it asap.
Fingers crossed your little ones managed to get away without any.

[Nemmi]

my family never use the shampoos,
They do p!ss all imho.

We have a sister with 5 kids and they are always riddled (drives us mad! 5 minutes with them and you WILL have at least 6 lice) but we just use the nit comb alot through out the day and 'monkey pick' (ie if we arr sitting near one of kids we'll pick through the hair n squish whatever we find) i've been raised pretty casual about the ocasional case of nits though and can tell when I get them cos that louce itch drives me batty (but my sister drives me mad as they do nothing to eliminate the,)

I don't really understand the omg yuck filthy nits reaction that most have though :s

[OhGeeMuma]

I would be fuming :banghead:

[misho]

Ok.. so im not overreacting thankfully!

Well I just had a shower and have put all mine & DS's clothing in the wash.

What bothers me the most is just her attitude about it. Like, if she had said to me 'hey maybe tie your hair back and dont hug them too much coz they just had nits' it would be ok.

[meatpopsicle]

You're not being precious at all - it's common courtesy for her to warn you and I cannot believe she didn't!

Reminds me of the time I was out with a friend and mentioned my lips were really dry. She offered me her chapstick. After I'd used it she casually mentioned she was getting a cold sore. WTF!!! I would have been so mad if she'd given me herpes.

[MummaBear03]

Just a hint, I comb DD's hair with the nit comb to make sure she doesn't have them and also put a leave-in conditioner in her hair each day before school and they can't cling to her hair and she won't get them anywhere near as often. So far we've been lucky she's only had them a couple of times despite being in daycare from about 1.5 years of age.

[TripleTime]

Id be PO'd thats for sure. My sister went to a not so crash hot school for kindy in 2000, was nothing for her to come home 2-3 times a week with a head full. It got to the point that i would beet mum to treating her hair, school bag, hat, bed the works.

If anyone mentions the word nits/headlice to me i start scratching like a crazy woman, while reading this thread of managed to scratch enough to make my scalp bleed.



I don't really understand the omg yuck filthy nits reaction that most have though :s

They are pretty grose if you ask me.

[waterlily]

Omg!!! I would be sooo mad. I would have had some "words" with her!

[1+1=5]

i would be very upset too! mainly because i have such long hair and it would be such a pain to get rid of it from my hair :o

my eldest is 7 and we have managed to dodge the nits thus far...

[FiveInTheBed]

I would prefer someone I'm coming into close contact with to give a heads up ...:yes:

The kids kindy had a sign up "check childrens hair for head lice" because they had a few kids with them there -- I still sent the kids though. But was prepared.

[Annabella]

I don't really understand the omg yuck filthy nits reaction that most have though :s

Me either.

Sorry I think you were being a bit precious. My kids had nits recently (which I'd treated with an essential oil blend and lots of combing) and when SIL came to visit they forgot their brush and she was using ours and I said "Sorry I forgot to mention the girls had nits last week, I've treated them but just incase..." and she replied, "thats ok, I think S has nits anyway", after we'd all been sharing a brush for a week! I was a bit annoyed but really its nits... annoying yes, but hardly life threatening.

She probably forgot, I tell close friends' parents if I find nits in my kids' hair, but forget sometimes. I'd hate for someone to get angry at me for that.

[Pinkzy]

I totally understand the "gross" factor.

When a child's scalp is infected, bleeding and pussy from the infected sores and bites from an untreated case of nits, it's absolutely disgusting and extremely gross.

[jaidynsmylilman]

There is so much negtivity although it is a normal thing to have atleast 1 case throughout a child's life.

Just a question everyone practically is saying eww gross and having negattivity towards the mother cause thier child has nits or forgot to tell you would your opinions change about the child's mother,child and the situation if she did infact call or mentioned it?

Would ur negativity and grossness still be apparent if she did indeed inform you and was honest would there be still thee comments behind the mothers back about the grossness of nits?

Mind you it peeves me off when a mother doesnt keep on top and a ratty child is always infested cause of a lazy mother but thts only after months or years of constant infestations.

If someone has nits my son has been around i do a treatment and keep on top of it. it isnt hard work a child will either get nits or suffer from bouts of sickness colds/gastro and being a mother thats just some of the jobs we entail.

[brogeybear]

For me it is the simple disrespect of not being informed that gets on my nerves. Nits in themselves are no sign of dirtiness, etc. but left untreated they can cause definite "grossness", believe me! It is the same principle as if a child has an illness, it is common courtesy to inform other people so they can choose whether they are willing to risk infection.

[Just Add Water]

i think she should have mentioned it. but for now, use tea tree shampoo and spray with water and tea tree when not shampooing. we haven't had a problem with nits in over three years despite them going through school. they like clean hair, not dirty, so no need to accuse anyone of neglect because their child has them. some kids don't tell thier parents they are itchy either, and i don't know many parents who check religiously everyday just i case.

life's too short really to get too upset about a few bugs :)