But tomorrow came and went, before I knew it it was 10 pm with all the kids and even Paul comfortably asleep or at least half asleep in their beds. The thought kept coming to me that I had to not only shave George's head but give the boys haircuts as well.
I shook Paul a little and told him what I was going to do but all he could mumble was "what?....you need to go to sleep". I couldn't even rest, and despite my resolve to ensure my children receive the proper amount of sleep I pulled them into my room and told them it was time for haircuts.
It is starting to get warm and sticky here in MI so I selected the 1/2" guard and went at it quickly. The boys were cooperative but still it was nearing 11 pm by the time we were through.
I suppose I could have let them go to sleep and just done George's head on my own but this was going to be his first haircut and I wanted it documented. William is my photographer so he quickly came to the task and kind of chuckled as he took the pictures.
When finished I gave William a big hug and thank you upon which I spotted something strange on his scalp. I pulled him close to examine it and at first glance it looked like a dark irregular mole so I looked closer, picked at it a bit and it moved! Instinctively I called James to grab me a ziplock bag and carefully dislodged the creature from his scalp.
Trapped in the ziplock we were able to quickly identify at the computer as an engorged female deer tick. Upon further research we learned about the risk of Lyme disease .
William has very thick hair - I would have never known it was there if it wasn't for the haircuts (or the 1/2" shave)!
I feel I was prompted and although at the moment it seemed like a crazy thing to give them haircuts at 10:30, I'm glad I acted on it.
We are now acting on simple preventative measures to ensure he does not end up with Lyme disease which in children can take months to show its self, the result of which can lead to years of chronic health problems.
We also now require hats and socks when playing in the woods and do daily tick checks before bed.
And although I'm still trying to get use to George's bald head, experiences like these always increase my confidence in being a mom.
Ewww gross, how can you stand that, that's awful... now can I see it?
ReplyDeleteI am glad you documented it. Thanks for sharing it.
ReplyDeleteWow 10 p.m. haircuts huh? I love it! :) I cut my kids hair too!
ReplyDeleteScary about the tick. We don't have very many here in Indiana but my husband's family lives in Arkansas near a lot of woods and we all end up with having to remove ticks. Yuck!!! Glad you found it!
This story is amazing, Alison. LOVE it!!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it amazing the impressions we get as Moms. I had a strong one the other night too- to go downstairs late at night just to discover the gas had been on for hours and was totally flooding our house. Amazing. In case it may make you feel better, Mia had a deer tick too about 6 months ago and nothing ever became of it. I'm sure he'll be fine.
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ReplyDeleteWonderful story about listening to those subtle promptings! Love it!
ReplyDeleteNow I need to read you blog about having your children get enough sleep. We don't do so well in that area with teens and babies!~Karolyn
I just had the experience of finding a tick on my son's scalp a few days ago too! It made my stomach churn a bit, but luckily I was able to stay calm. Not sure if it was a deer tick or not, but sounds like I need to research it.
ReplyDeleteIf you still have it you can look online and find a place to mail it in and test it. They can tell you if it had lyme disease or not. Wish I would have done this with a couple I found on myself and kids.
ReplyDeleteAllison-
ReplyDeleteThere is a higher incidence of lyme disease here in the midwest and even more in the east
I wouldn't be worried if I had found it that day but looking back it was more than 3 days that they were playing in the woods. I may send it in like Staci suggested (we saved it to look at under the microscope but we are still waiting for it to die)
Paul actually did have Lyme disease in high school so that is why I am being extra cautious
Staci - thanks for the heads up. I'm going to look into sending it in. The boys were hoping to examine it under the microscope but it may be better off in a real lab.
David likes George's haircut and is wondering when he can get the same one. He says he wants to be bald. I told him he may some day, but now he has hair.
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