Worst Mother Award!

Or, Damned Schools!

In an incredible thirty minutes yesterday afternoon, I learned that my precious child has viral warts, worms and nits. Which is, of course, why I have subtitled this blog Damned Schools! There is a chance I picked up the nits in one the schools I teach at though.

But what a nasty thirty minutes! First Amy told me that the school nurse had caught a bug in her hair and showed the teacher it on a piece of paper. Amy had found a bug in her own hair on Sunday, but since she had spent the afternoon outside chasing grasshoppers I assumed it was a bug bug. Horrified, I asked to see her school notices, since I was sure there would be something about it there if it was nits. And she showed me a health check sheet which said there were some worms!

Lena's friend Maia's Mum was there all along - she's a doctor and helped me read the notice. She was the one who confirmed that the pimply thing on Amy's arm was indeed a 'mizu ibo', a kind of wart that can spread. Any one of these things could keep Amy from the pool that she so loves, so we had to deal with them!

First up was the nits - Kanji got the message from the school, and picked up the special pesticide shampoo. We all used it - I finally realized that I was not getting heat rash or a dandruff relapse but I probably had nits too, gross! Then the comb, then the hair dryer. I washed every towel, sheet and blanket in the house, what a job! Especially since it's raining cats and dogs so I had to take them to the laundromat to dry.

Today we visited the dermatologist, who gave us anesthetic tape to put over the warts in preparation to having them removed sometime later in the week. I haven't even thought what to do about the worms! Guess we'd better visit the pediatrician too. And we've only just finished Lena's dental treatment! Gosh, you just can't stay away from the doctor's when you have kids! After all this, my visit to the OB next week will be a pleasure!