As I mentioned last year around this time, I'm not a big "decorate for every holiday" kind of person. I'm trying to get better about it, since these {tweener} holidays are a big deal for the tiny people ~ and I have that adorable wreath and those cute printables from last Valentines Day, so I figured I might as well keep growing the collection.
This year I made a cute, quick, and super-simple little project.
You may have seen a corner of it peeking out next to the shadow box bank in yesterday's post. Yep...that's because I made this one first. I'm getting crazy and posting out of order! Anyhoodle...this is what I started out with...
Just a simple little square-ish wood piece with raised sides that I found at Michael's. Since it's winter in Michigan, and spray paint and cold weather don't mix, I gave it a coat or 2 of white craft paint.
Easy enough. I picked up some cute Valentine's Day scrapbooking paper, too, and cut it down to size so it would fit in the recessed area.
I used a coat of Mod Podge under the paper, and another coat over the paper. Then I stuck on this adorable red heart that I cut using my Silhouette machine. More Mod Podge (because you really can never use too much... ;) ) on top of the heart.
Being that I lack patience and wanted to get this {done}, I didn't wait long enough between coats, which caused the heart to bubble a bit. :( It is what it is.
So here's the finished product again, looking all cute.
Believe it or not, I have yet {another} Valentine's Day project up my sleeve. I KNOW! Who {AM} I!?!?!?!?!
It's winter time ~ although, here in Michigan, it hasn't felt much like it. But there is proof! Proof in the form of those little notes that come home from school telling us what's going around. They say something like, "Attention Parents ~ Your adorable little cherub may have been exposed to: (Insert Illness / Affliction Here)".
I don't know about anyone else, but every time I catch a glimpse of one of those notes in one of the tiny people's backpacks I close my eyes and whisper, "Please don't say lice, please don't say lice, please don't say lice..."
Now, if you've never had the unfortunate experience of dealing with lice yourself, stop right now, bow your head, and say a little prayer of thanks....because as someone who {has} been to that place, I can tell you ~ Dealing with lice is like entering the 5th circle of H.E.L.L. It was easily the most horrible experience of my adult life. No lie. So awful, it was, that it has taken me well over a year to blog about it. I just wasn't ready yet.
Now, you might be wondering why I'm bringing it up at all ~ and I'm telling you that there are 2 simple reasons. 1: no one should feel like they're the only one who's had to deal with it. It's not your fault ~ it's not your kid's fault ~ and it doesn't mean that anyone is dirty. And 2: you need to know that you'll survive it. I promise.
It's daunting ~ I'm not gonna lie. But, I'm going to offer some tips, and let you know what {I} think every parent of a school-aged child should have on hand...just in case.
First ~ make sure you're checking your child/ren on a regular basis. Maybe every 2nd or 3rd day if you haven't gotten a notice from the school. If/when a notice does come home from school, it's time to start checking daily. Religiously. Every. Day. I know you're thinking, "But I don't know what I'm looking for!" Trust me, you will know a nit if/when you see one.
Pick up some Lice Shield repellant shampoo and/or hair spray from the drug store, and when there is an outbreak, spray your kids down every day before sending them off to school.
Try (try, try, try) to keep your family members' combs seperated. No sharing. I know it's easier said than done, but it's worth a shot. It's easier to prevent the little buggers from spreading than it is to get rid of them once they have.
Keep a kit at home so that you're ready. Your kit should include: Medicated Shampoo (like RID), a metal-toothed lice comb, a rat tail comb, disposable plastic hair ties, a spray bottle, rubbing alcohol, a roll of blue painter's tape, extra vacuum cleaner bags, extra trash bags, duct tape, lice killing spray.
Now the explanation. There are plenty of people who will tell you to use olive oil or mayo instead of the chemical shampoo. I am {not} one of those people. This is war, people ~ it's not a time to get mamby-pamby. The shampoo will come with a plastic lice comb. These plastic combs are {crap}. Spring for the metal one ~ it's sooo much better.
The long tail on a rat tail comb will make it easier to part and section the hair, and you can use the hair ties to make several ponytails so that you can keep track of what you've already checked. I seperated my girls' hair into 6 or 8 smaller sections, then used the tail of the comb to go through each section bit by bit. The spray bottle is helpful b/c it's easier to check damp hair. You can dampen it by section and not have to spray the same area over and over again.
Rubbing alcohol will kill anything that sticks to the combs, so you can soak them between checks (which you'll do twice a day....for 2 weeks). I also took the extra step of wiping down my laundry hampers with rubbing alcohol before putting any clean laundry in them.
Blue painter's tape might seem strange, but we put anything we found during our checks on the sticky side of the tape so that we could see it (and make sure we were finding less and less) it was contained and easy to throw away.
Vacuum cleaner bags are important b/c you're going to vacuum all of your furniture, mattresses, rugs, etc. every day...for 2 weeks. You need to get the used bag (or a plastic bag containing the contents of the bin if you have a bagless vacuum) out of the house and into your outside garbage can when you're done vacuuming. Every day. I also used rubbing alcohol to clean the bin of our bagless vacuum every day. Better safe than sorry.
Garbage bags and duct tape are meant for anything soft that you can't wash ~ like special pillows, dolls, hats, or stuffed animals. You're going to put everything into a garbage bag, seal it closed with duct tape and put it outside for at least 2 weeks. If you have a large freezer, you can put items in it, too. You can vacuum everything before putting it back into regular circulation.
The lice spray can be used on mattresses and furniture, but I didn't do that. I only used the spray on our carseats. All of them. Like, the entire interior of the car.
You're also going to go through a {ridiculous} amount of laundry detergent. You're going to wash coats, hats, gloves, and any clothes that have been worn by the affected person in HOT water. You can also kill stuff by drying it on high heat for at least 20 min. I did both. To everything.
Put those who are affected to bed at night with nothing but a fitted sheet and a blanket. You're going to wash those items every day...for 2 weeks. Choose wisely ~ we lost a blanket (our only casualty) because it couldn't handle all the laundering. And if you have bunk beds, you might want to consider making the top bunk kid sleep on the floor. Trust me....vacuuming that top bunk mattress every day is a beeeeeeee-otch.
You're going to check noggins twice a day...every day...for 2 weeks.
You're going to vacuum the mattresses...the couch and chairs...the rugs...every day...for 2 weeks.
You're going to launder bedding...every day...for 2 weeks.
You're also likely going to {cry} every day...for 2 weeks. ;)
But you {will} get through it. And hopefully you won't have to go through it ever again.
OK....I {know} I cannot be the only person who has dealt with this....
What a mess. It looks horrible, I can't see some of the stuff that's up there, and honestly....how can I feel like an a grown-up when I've got boxes of cereal and snacks "stored" in the same spot that held the bulk box of Top Ramen in my old college apartment? {Seriously.}
The hubband & I stood in the kitchen and stared at the boxes, thinking of other options. We don't have a pantry. Storing frequently-used items in the basement doesn't make sense. We have space for some bookcase-type shelves in the kitchen (we have a bar-seating area at our peninsula that we never use) but that would put them within too-easy reach of the tiny people...and the dogs. Our in-kitchen food storage space is limited to one cupboard ~ the tall boxes are too tall, and the cupboard is alredy full. Hmmmm... And then it hit me. I.am.a.MORON.
You know those shelves in the cupboards? They {move}, people. DUH!
This is how my cupboards were set up before ~ and actually, how they were set up when we moved in. Moving them never occurred to us.
I moved the middle shelf down one notch, and moved the top shelf down 2 notches, and {voila!} ~ plenty of room for our snacks and cereal on the top shelf.
Now there is enough room for our cereal boxes, and our snacks, on the top shelf. I'm moving away from buying canned fruits & veggies (darn BPA) and opting for jarred fruit and frozen veggies, so that center shelf will fewer cans as time goes by.
All this to point out that 1) I'm not that bright ;) and 2) the solution to a problem might {not} be as difficult as you're making it. You may be able to solve the problem without spending any money or bringing anything extra into your home! Yay, me!
