SUPER cleaning week....

After a week of fever, we had a relatively good weekend. Thank goodness for that. Because we had no idea what was in store for the following week.

The daughter had been complaining about an itchy scalp for several days now. Blame it on my work travel and the bout of fever with both kids, I did not pay more attention to it until the weekend. I oiled her hair, washed it, but on Monday, she still complained. So Monday night, I checked her hair and found some nits. I thought she must have just caught it from school and spent some time removing them. But on Tuesday morning, I spotted a lice (yes, the dreaded SUPER lice) in her hair while combing, and that's when I realized the problem at hand is more severe than I was imagining.

I subsequently found nits in my hair, and my son's hair, and loads of time was spent on the internet trying to figure out how to best address the issue. I decided to get rid of it the same day, and called a local lice lady who uses all natural methods - yeast spray, essential oils, and a fine nit comb, to get rid of them in a 1-hour session. She comes to your house and does it, and she agreed to visit us on Tuesday evening. So for about 3.5 hours that day, all four of us took turns with her, and participated in "Operation Lice Removal". I am happy to report that the operation was a success :)!

Once our heads were clear, we turned to disinfecting our home. Thanks to our super awesome maid, we got the floors, bathrooms, carpet and tile, toys, sofas, etc done in one visit. We changed out the sheets in all rooms, vacuumed the dining chairs, carseats and rugs, threw the combs and hair ties in the freezer, and washed the jackets and clothes worn in the last couple days in hot water and dried them in high heat. It was a mammoth task, but it had to be done, and it is done now. Phew!!

The nit comb - I bought two of them by the way - is my new best friend now. All the way until children are in high school, I'll have to follow a prevention routine to ensure we don't have to tackle this kind of a mess again.

Lice love clean hair - they don't get onto heads that are not washed for several days, or on heads that have products on them. The husband dyes his hair and he came through clean. So, it's not really a taboo or a hygiene issue if you get lice. I reported the incident to both the kids schools without any shame.

This is also a month of finances. We have taxes to file, a home refinance to consider, and investments to look at. Add to that our summer travel plans and visa procedures, we are overwhelmed.

Sometimes I feel, I have very little time, outside of my daily routine, to devote to tasks that are really important. For example, investments. I keep procrastinating, and I would love to be a bit more savvy and proactive on that front. Exercise has been another thing that has always gotten the last priority. The only thing I do for myself without compromising on a regular basis is reading.

And then I also think: I have a good amount of savings. What if I quit my full time job and found something else, part time. Something that would keep me challenged, and left me more time to do things I really love to do? Like not having kids in school all day, and spending the late afternoon with them, exercising and going for runs, learning an instrument, have more time for parents and family, travel whenever kids are on break, have a less stressful routine life where I could enjoy the cooking, and play time, and can do the chores at a leisurely pace, be able to read when I'm fully awake, vs when eyelids are half closed, and so much more.

Something has to change. How, when, what? I need to figure it out.

A moment of McQueen happiness....

Whenever I travel for work, the kids ask me to bring them back something. It's usually something very small, sometimes just a chocolate chip cookie for both, but however small the gift, it's the thought that their mommy missed them, and brought something for them, that they care about.

Until last year, I would never discuss my travel plans with them. It upset them quite a bit, knowing I would not come home from work at night. But starting this year, I tell them way in advance where I'm going.

I traveled to Arizona this week, and the son kept asking me to bring him a McQueen T-shirt. He's been asking for it since days, and I decided to order a 3-pack from Amazon before I left so that it would arrive (hurray, 2-day prime shipping) by the time I returned from Arizona.

The day I got back, I got a call from his preschool right around lunch that he had a fever, so I picked him up and brought him home. Just as I was settling him in bed for a nap, the doorbell rang, and I told him his t-shirts would have arrived. He said did u bring them from Arizona? I said I ordered them from Arizona and they came in the brown truck. To say he was delighted and thrilled to see and wear them is an understatement. He must have said "thank you mamma" zillions of times, and so many other feel good statements. He was so excited that he could not sleep until 4pm, and was wearing a huge grin on his face all afternoon long.

He's home today with me, down with fever, but you can hardly tell he's sick. He LOVES spending time with me at home, especially when his sister is in school, coz then he gets undivided attention. He's sporting another one of his McQueen T-shirts today....and he is very, very happy.

Money can't buy everything, but if a cheap $5 t-shirt can bring my sick son several days of happiness, it sure is worth it.

It's been a fever filled week, so I'm ready for the tide to turn now. The daughter had fever since Saturday, and she missed school for 2 days while I was gone. Now the son is down, and our beloved nephew is down with fever as well. On one hand, these are routine common illnesses which go away soon, so I'm really grateful for that. On the other hand though, it takes a toll on us parents when both are full time professionals, and we don't have any family to help us during such times.

Hoping for a healthy weekend....