keeping hair back

if you did not stop what you were doing and did not sanitize everything the kid was in contact with (including the chair) you certainly can spread lice. I find this really unprofessional.

len sherrard wrote:i was at a drop in center for low income families a few years back, doing a tad of cheek art, when this youngster sat in my chair and as i started to paint i could see critters crawling on their scalp. My first thought was to jerk back and refuse to paint them, but that would only cause them more suffering and a sence of guilt, as if they dont have enough of that all ready in their life. So i very carefully painted the design away from any hair, keep my mouth shut, and boiled my brushes when i got home

thankyou, lesson learned.

I'm sure that was a tough situation to be in and I can understand you were being kind in thinking about that child's feelings.

I've only seen lice ONCE... at a park job where the latchkey kids were there unattended, in winter...

I was painting the child BEFORE I realized she had ickys...

So I finished up right away, tossed the sponges, dropped the brushes in my bucket under the table to sanitize in alcohol, replaced the chair (they were park chairs so I went and got a new one)... sprayed down my table with alcohol, washed my hands, sanitized my hands... and kept painting.

Len-'m not trying to be a jerk about that or single YOU out, but in the world of cosmetology where I come from it is ingrained in my head. I know you girls just did what you could at the time. The situation probably was never thought of before it came up for you.

and I know anyone would feel bad asking a child to exit your chair but think about it, is the parent that clueless they do not see bugs in their kids hair? Anyway it DOES happen. Sometimes the parent IS clueless. But it's also a public health issue, If you are honest and professional about it no one is going to leave upset. Maybe keep some stickers/ temp tattoos on hand just for this type of scenario? That's what I plan to do,

I usually use black clips for both boys and girls if they dont want to hold up their own hair. I always tell the boys that is just for a moment and I promise your hair will be back to normal. But It's a judment call...If I can tell the kid's head is dirty then they gotta hold their hair or I tell the parent to make sure their hair is clipped back b/c I dont want to accidentally hurt them *wink wink* and the parents usually aggree .