My recent column for Westport Patch:
"It's going around the schools again and being passed along from one unsuspecting kid to another. Then they bring it home where they share it with the rest of the family. In a word, it's misery.
No, I'm not talking about the swine flu or strep. This might even be worse:
Head lice.
It all starts with that dreaded letter that comes home in the backpack saying the school has a confirmed case of pediculosis in your child's classroom. The lice letters went out this week. I know there's no logical basis for this, but as soon as I get that letter, my head becomes incredibly itchy. (And my family has yet to personally encounter the little buggers.)
Of all the things our kids bring home: green runny noses, pill bug collections, the stomach flu, this seems to be the thing that puts people over the edge. Moms who are otherwise unflappable go a little bit crazy when the infestation hits home. "I can deal with anything except head lice," one mother said to me with a shudder. She has a point. It is rather gross.
Maybe one reason why emotions run hot over lice is that people still associate them with being unclean. But it has nothing to do with hygiene. The lice jump from head to head. Kids who are in close contact with each other at school all day are prime targets. In fact, some experts even think that the lice thrive on clean hair, not grungy heads."
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