Tomorrow is the last day of school for my little grade one, and we are pumped for a fun summer. We are going to camp, camp, camp and camp! We are still mobile, and planning to visit a number of campgrounds this summer. We have plans to visit Yogi http://www.jellystonens.com/, South Mountain http://www.southmountainparkcampground.com/, Ponhook http://www.ponhook.com/, and the Plantation http://www.plantationcampground.com/ so already our summer sounds pretty fun!

Do you camp? We would love recommendations on some new places to check out.

Happy Summer!

There is LICE in your kids school!

No matter where you live or what school your kids go to, I guarantee there is lice in their school. Even if it is not in their classroom, yet, it's on the playground, in the lunchroom, and at their afterschool program. The schools are no longer doing healthy head checks on a regular basis. So - it's all on you, moms and dads. And unless you all get it under control, it is going to continue to go around and around.

I've discovered that the medicated shampoo sucks. It does nothing. BUT - I've also discovered that Coconut Oil is the miracle cure. Seriously. It dissolves the lice and even most of the nits, making clean up much easier and repeats more infrequent.

So, you need to check your kids head. If you don't know what it looks like, look it up. If they have it, believe me, it won't take you long to find it, once you know what you are looking for. 

If they do have it - here is your guide to getting rid of it the first time. Believe me, if you mess this up, you'll be repeating these steps within ten days.

1. Put your kid in a fresh pair of pjs. Go to the bathroom. Take a bottle of coconut oil, and massage clumps in your hand until it is liquid. Completely saturate every strand of hair with the oil. Seriously, lube it up. Cover the head with a shower cap and leave it on until morning. Added bonus - the smell of the coconuts will get on the child's pillow, and it is a deterrent, minimizing the risk of lice crawling back in there.

2. Get your vacuum and start in the child's bedroom. Bag up stuffed animals and Barbie dolls to be put away for a while. Strip the bed and vacuum the mattress. Vacuum the floors, wash the blinds and the furniture, get some new bedding on there and send the kid to bed.

3. Do the same with all floors and surfaces in the house. Put anything you can in the wash, and dry it for at least a half an hour. Don't forget jackets, scarves, hats, backpacks, lunch bags. Vacuum couches, and pick a chair for the child to own for a week. Put a clean fitted single sheet over the chair and call it the child's throne. Don't let them in bedrooms, besides their own, if possible. Think about all the places the child has been, and that you have been during your clean up. Make sure you change your clothes a lot as well.

4. In the morning, wash the child's hair. You won't get all the grease out, but that's a good thing. The smell is a deterrent, and the grease will help French braid their hair, the hair style the kid now has to have forever and ever. If you did a good job with the oil, there should be no living thing in the hair. You'll likely find some nits, but not nearly as many as were there. Use your finger nail to put out any remaining nits. Remember, the better job you do with this step, the less likely another cycle of lice will develop.

5. Buy a shampoo with tea tree oil. You can use tea tree oil around the hair line until you get some. Advise your child not to hug their friends, not to share clothes or outer wear, and to be cognisant of where they put their outerwear at school - to keep it separate from the outerwear of others as much as possible. Our school has advised putting hats and mitts in sleeves, I've seen other schools with containers for each child to put these in. If something is lost  - abandon it or get it from the lost and found yourself with a plastic bag. Girls like to play with each other's hair, especially when there are in line. Advise your child not to participate in this. Lice has changed me, it used to make me happy to see little children hugging and laughing with their hair free and dangling... now I get the heebie jeebies.

6. Buy many different interesting and colorful hair clips. Tell your child to get used to how they look with their hair up, and never wear it down to school ever again. Seriously. Most girls I've seen in the schools wear their hair long and loose - a real lice magnet.

7. Sleepovers. Sigh, so fun, but also so great for the transfer of lice...

8. Think about all the other places you go that people have laid their head... the movie theatre seats, the hats and hair accessories at stores, the bus, the passenger seat of a car or cab... I'm sure you can come up with more. Also, indoor activity centres and day cares - think about nap time! Ick I can't think about it anymore. Oh - helmet rentals!

9. When you do find out you have it, please call everyone you know and tell them. If not, all you are doing is opening yourself up to dealing with it over and over, because your child not only got it from somewhere, but how long did they have it that you didn't know, and who did they give it to? Beg the school to let everyone know that lice was found on a student - they won't give your child's name, and hopefully the parents will all check their kids. I know it can suck to have to say "my kid has lice, and sorry, but she was at your house for a play date yesterday, so you gotta' clean too" but believe me, the parent would rather know sooner than find it later when it's an even bigger mess.

Good Luck!!

Pintrest

I am amazed at how much I've found that has affected my life on this website. Seriously, if you haven't signed up for this site, do it. I have found ideas for kids activities, Sunday school activities, school stuff for myself, renovation ideas (not that I am barking up that tree any time soon!). So I guess I just wanted to send out a little shout out for this website and get you all pin-ing. Cheers!

Just discovered pintrest

More to follow....

Waiting for an exam to start is the most boring thing

My computer is ready. I've read over my notes. I have water. My sitter is here and briefed. There is 11 minutes before the exam starts. I'm bored.

This is it though!! Final exam and then almost three weeks of freedom before I start 4 new classes. (I know I just said freedom, and I know you are rolling your eyes because really, how much freedom does a person really have when they have a baby, a five year old, a big dog and her niece on weekdays... but it lightens my load a little for three weeks so it can still be considered partial freedom.) And trust me - I have packed those three weeks! We are going to Magic Mountain on Sunday, camping next weekend, I have tones of cleaning and organizing to do, and I have to get myself ready for university, my daughter ready for grade primary, and my son and dog ready to be without me for a couple of hours four days a week! But I am not behind on the prep work - I just counted and I have 73 juice boxes, a diaper box full of granola bars, and another filled with pudding and fruit cups. We wont have to buy lunch snacks until after Christmas!

6 minutes to go... I did get a lot done today; laundry folded, dishes done, vacuuming, bathrooms cleaned, and even did my own pedicure! I was a bundle of nervous energy, I had to focus on something!

I know I am rambling, I know it is nothing interesting, but I just have to keep my fingers busy while I wait... 4 minutes... I should log off here and get my screen open. Wish me luck!!

Do not disturb

Here's the scenario: you are at home, the baby is in bed, and you are reading your daughter a bedtime story. The door bell rings. The dog goes nuts. The baby wakes up. You go to the door. It's someone looking for money.
This happened last night at 8:30. Now I live in a busy residential neighborhood filled with young families. I'm sure I am not alone in thinking that anything after 7 pm is too late for soliciting of any kind. Now in this case it was a charity organization. It seems to happen a lot lately, people soliciting, to the point that I am considering a sign. I
Is that a deterrence still? Maybe I'll put a sign out saying I am broke, or I don't carry cash. I never give at the door anyways, unless it is Girl Guide cookies (especially the chocolate covered mint ones - yum!). And I really don't carry cash so it really is a waste of their time to ring my doorbell. Maybe a sign is in my future. "Don't bother, this old hag won't give you a cent."

GAIA baby products

Nathan is still having trouble with cradle cap, and I am wondering if it is tied in with the acid reflux. He is very sensitive to soaps and detergents, and even baby oil, which I used on his head on the doctor's advice and his head was red for two days afterwards. So yesterday I made a trip to Planet Organic on Quimpool road and picked up some all natural shampoo and body wash. Used both this morning on Hailey and Nathan, and I used the body wash myself, and it was awesome. Nathan's head looks a little better already.
The products I bought were GAIA baby products. You can find the company website here.

I'll update on these products as we use them. So far, so good! Meanwhile, I am putting feelers out for a Naturopath experienced in dealing with children and/or acid reflux (or GERD). If you know anyone in the Halifax area, or better yet, have dealt personally with someone and you can share your experience, I would be very appreciative. It is not easy to look through the phone book and trust a stranger with the health of your child. But I'm afraid I just don't know enough about foods and products to figure out if Nathan has an allergy or sensitivity to something that is causing his issues.