Head Lice
Aha. I tricked you. You read the title of this blog and immediately assumed I have head lice. Sorry, I do not. But I AM going to tell you a funny little story about it.
I was doing my lesson plans for this week and noticed that in Health, we were supposed to talk about head lice. I was a little nervous about it, since kids in island schools often have head lice. No big deal. In the American textbook, however, it is a bigger deal. “You may have to stay home from school if you have head lice.” Oh, yes, this might be awkward. Nevertheless, I forged on fearlessly this afternoon, and even brought some props of things not to share with people who have head lice: brush, t-shirt, hat, hair-band, and pillow.
As soon as we turned to the page, the stories began pouring forth from 2nd-grade lips about so-and-so’s brother or cousin who had “plenty lice.” (That’s their word for “lots”—plenty.) The best part was one girl who took off her head-band and said, “Here, Teacher, I can show you what they look like!” Sure enough, on the tip of her finger was displayed a cute little bug, that looked a bit like the bug in the textbook. Well, what do you know? Next, as the critter was passed down through a couple other girls, I got to see it beheaded, and see proof of the ingested blood in a tiny drop on their desk.
I have never actually known if any of my kids had lice, but other teachers warned me they probably have. I’ve been with other kids I knew had lice at the village, and haven’t gotten it yet, but I think it’s probably only a miracle of the God. And I am thankful. It was a good reminder today that I’m not in America. We’re sure not sending anyone home due to lice infestations. ☺
I was doing my lesson plans for this week and noticed that in Health, we were supposed to talk about head lice. I was a little nervous about it, since kids in island schools often have head lice. No big deal. In the American textbook, however, it is a bigger deal. “You may have to stay home from school if you have head lice.” Oh, yes, this might be awkward. Nevertheless, I forged on fearlessly this afternoon, and even brought some props of things not to share with people who have head lice: brush, t-shirt, hat, hair-band, and pillow.
As soon as we turned to the page, the stories began pouring forth from 2nd-grade lips about so-and-so’s brother or cousin who had “plenty lice.” (That’s their word for “lots”—plenty.) The best part was one girl who took off her head-band and said, “Here, Teacher, I can show you what they look like!” Sure enough, on the tip of her finger was displayed a cute little bug, that looked a bit like the bug in the textbook. Well, what do you know? Next, as the critter was passed down through a couple other girls, I got to see it beheaded, and see proof of the ingested blood in a tiny drop on their desk.
I have never actually known if any of my kids had lice, but other teachers warned me they probably have. I’ve been with other kids I knew had lice at the village, and haven’t gotten it yet, but I think it’s probably only a miracle of the God. And I am thankful. It was a good reminder today that I’m not in America. We’re sure not sending anyone home due to lice infestations. ☺
Three times. Yup. I remember one time the louse was HUGE and I found it on my shoulder when I was showering. UGg, Ichh.
ReplyDelete"...but I think it’s probably only a miracle of the God."
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear that "the God" has protected you...have you drawn the famous diagram in the sand for them yet? (Us on left, Gap in the middle, "the God" on the right...what's this? A Cross? A way across? JESUS!!!)
I hate lice.
ReplyDeleteand I like that you haven't gotten it.
I love lice stories. But I guess it's okay if you don't have any more.
ReplyDeleteWhen you get back to America, remind me to tell you about the worst make-your-head-crawl story I've heard yet. I know it's a couple months away. But it's okay to let the anticipation build - it's that crazy.
time to bring the ol' gallon of olive oil and the roll of plastic wrap to class and do a de-licing!
ReplyDelete