I knew this was coming, I just hoped it wouldn't be so soon. Lice Daughter came into my office around 11:30 this morning, saying her head was itching and she had pulled a couple of bugs out of it during class. I combed through her hair and found a few nits; just enough to be hemming and hawing about whether or not to send her back to class and claim I thought they were dandruff, or dare call her mom and inform her. Lice Daughter told me her mom was in the hospital last night, so I was thinking I'd send her back to class and tell her to let her mom know her head was itching, when all of a sudden she pulled out a bug: "See, I told you!"
Dammit. She was right, and it was crawling around on her fingers. I bagged it for evidence, and as she looked upset, told her she seemed frustrated. She responded, "It's not that. It's that my mom's going to be mad." :(
I told her to call her mom while I packed up my stuff to run off to check my diabetics. She dialed, and when her mom answered, shoved the phone at me and whispered with a panicked look on her face, "You tell her! I don't want her to be mad at me!" I got to be the bearer of the bad news, and Lice Mom was none too happy to say the least. She finally said she would come and get her, and I dropped Lice Daughter off at the front office to wait for her mom as I ran out to my other school.
There are eight more days of school before winter break, and I'd be shocked if she returned to school clean before then. I feel SO bad for this poor girl, being stuck home with her witch of a mother, and yet I can't think of anything I can do. Calling CPS would bring repercussions that none of us at the school want; she doesn't need a referral to Healthy Start either, because she takes her daughter into the doctor when this happens. There is absolutely nothing I can think of to do for her.
In other news, the highlight of the day was when a chocolate milk-covered first grader crawled into my lap as she was waiting for her mom to bring her a change of clothes, and we played some imaginary games I could barely keep up with. That, and the $71 in mileage reimbursement I received for October. At 55 cents per mile, you do the math: I'm spending way too much time in my car with this school schedule.
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I just want to say thank you for all you do, even if you are not my kids school nurse. Yesterday I received a vision screening assessment from school and it stated my daughter needed to go to the eye doctor... I thought it was a fluke (or I wanted to think that maybe) sure enough this morning the eye doctor said she needs glasses, even though she passed at the doctors office in August. So, thank you for all the assessments, screenings, and education you do!
ReplyDeleteI wish someone at school had looked a little deeper when this shy, fearful kid was going through the ranks. I don't remember school nurses having much of a presence, if any where I was. I saw one maybe once for a scoliosis check in junior high.
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