Guess What Asher Brought Home from Preschool Last Week?

This week's adventure has been learning about and treating head lice. Asher brought the little critters home with him from preschool. Head lice are very common here among school children, and when we told our friends, they let us know that we are now full members of the community. It seems we have, so to speak, gone native.

For those who don't know, head lice are tiny parasites that infest human hair, proliferate, and feed off of blood in the scalp. We have been using special lice combs to get them out. Here are is what our anti-lice implements of destruction look like:

Here's what head lice look like at different stages of development:



If not combed out, lice can grow quite large and become a significant threat to public safety:

At least we are not alone. Here's a photo of one of our neighbors checking her daughter for lice after school today.

Now if this blog post is making you itchy, you should know that the London Telegraph reported a scientific study this week finding that itching is contagious, like yawning. According to the study, "there must be a central brain mechanism responsible for the generation of the itch sensation in the absence of stimuli." Researchers believe that "simply thinking or reading about a person who is scratching is enough to trigger to the response."

Just to be safe, however, you might want to go out and buy a good lice comb ...