Every time I see a light yellow piece of paper in one of my sons' backpacks, I cringe. These "lice alerts" let me know that a child in that particular classroom has lice. Sometimes I only receive one paper. Other times, both boys bring home papers and I hold my breath. We received these notices through preschool and now during grade school. It seems as though lice is always traveling around the school.
But... knock on wood... knock HEAVILY on wood... the lice have not taken up residence in my house or on my boys' heads. (I'm seriously going to knock on wood a few more times here.) I remember dealing with lice a few times during my youth and it was absolutely no fun. I can only imagine how much worse the "mother" role is in the whole scenario.
If I were confident, I'd sing it out: "Not a louse in the house! Oh yeaaaaaah!" But I really don't want to get a puffed-up chest about this, because I fear by simply typing this post I'm welcoming the inevitable.
But for now, we're good.
Awhile ago, I bought Fairy Tales Rosemary Repel shampoo and their lice-repelling conditioner, as well as their leave-in conditioner. (I'm thinking of purchasing the gel, too, since my youngest son has started putting styling product in his hair.)
This product line has the scents of rosemary, citronella, and tee oil, as well as a variety of other herbal smells designed to repel lice and other insects.
Does it work?
Well, I haven't knowingly exposed my kids to lice, although I know they have been near classmates who have had lice. So far, they haven't gotten lice. I cannot say for certain it is the hair products that protected them, but I can say we've been exceptionally lucky so far.
The way I see it, my sons already need hair products, so it makes sense to use some that keep their hair shiny and soft but also might have the benefit of repelling insects. I don't want to drench my kids in chemical-laden bug spray, but having an herbal shampoo that might provide a deterrent (assuming there is a non-fragrant head close by for the louse to choose instead) is a good thing.
I'm going to keep my fingers crossed, but I'm also going to keep using the Fairy Tales line of products just in case.
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Disclaimer: I learned about Fairy Tales through a post a long time ago on Cool Mom Picks. I purchased the products on my own shortly thereafter. I will not receive compensation for this post; however, the product links to amazon include my affiliate code such that if you make a purchase, I get a few cents.
