To think my cleaner is being bloody ridiculous!

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Oldest DS is in primary school. He started scratching his head a lot the weekend before last and obviously my first thought was the dreaded head lice! Turned out to be that, so we treated the whole family with Nitwits and have been doing the daily slog of nit combing. DH has been threatening to shave his head for years due to his receding hairline and took DS’s head lice as an excuse opportunity to do that.

So come today, our cleaner arrives in the morning, I'm at work so not there. She comes in and sees DH shaved head and asks him about it. He doesn’t think anything of it and says oh the kids had head lice last week so I shaved my head. He then pops to the shops and returns 15 minutes later to find her sitting in her car. He asks her what’s wrong and she says she doesn’t want to go back in the house. At the same time she’s messaged me at work saying
”Your husband told me the kids have lice. Is that right? Can I come back another day as I’m a bit scared to be honest”

AIBU to think this is absolutely absurd behaviour?! I get that no one would want to get nits, but unless she’s physically rubbing her own head against my child’s head she’s not gonna get nits from just being in our house!
Shes made me feel like a bloody leper!

Those of you who are afraid of nits, do you work with the general public? I don't understand how you think teachers, nurses, dentists, speech therapists and other people who need to be in the general vicinity of children function? I've taught for years and years and never caught headlice yet they are extremely prevalent. I think you're completely underestimating how many people you know and have been in the homes of whose children will have had nits at some point. The idea that you would catch it from someone's home while the child isn't even there is just bonkers.

To be fair, your DH did basically tell her he'd had to shave his head because the kids had nits. Given she didn't see anyone else, perhaps she thought this was the treatment.

@Chickenkeev I know, I've got kids. Thank god they are well past the nit stage. I would let something like this go. if I had a good cleaner. If it's just the one phobia...

Yes this definitely didn’t help the situation 🤣🤣

Is there a 'stage'? I had the pleasure of getting them at 14 or 15. I was utterly horrified. Looking back, i think my mam was stifling laughter at my horror. It passed and i survived 😂

The nits didn't 😁

That’s interesting, yes she’s also from another part of Europe. I do think it’s either a cultural thing or a misunderstanding of head lice!

Can I say a friend came to visit me and I saw the buggers crawling around her head! I asked her to leave!!

That would freak anyone out tbf

This is about her feelings though. I would be the same because my hair type is really thick! I wouldn't even get a nit comb through my hair. If your DH has shaved his head well... no wonder she doesn't want to come! It's her choice anyway you can't force her.

What did your friend say? I want to hear the rest lol.

I can understand it, I’ve known 2 people who got them at the hairdressers and the one who had never had kids was very freaked out by it

This.

@Chickenkeev You poor thing, My head is itching just thinking about it! Ticks are worse though, we live rural.

I dont blame her. She doesnt want to catch nits fair enough you should have told her before she came so she had the choice

We let our cleaner and our houseguests know when we have a contagious illness in the house.

I would say she deffo has a phobia. It wouldn't bother me in the slightest but if I had walked in this morning ang your husband said you had mice I would have done a runner 🙈. I realise it's not rational but phobias often aren't ! Do realise it puts you in a bad situation with not getting your cleaning done though 😩

I was traumatised tbh. And half of it is imaginary once you know you have them. Rotten. But i still wouldn't avoid a nit house, life is too short etc!

Yes her reaction is way over the top op. There are far worse things she could potentially catch as a cleaner in someone else’s home!

Having said that, how you react depends on how good a cleaner she is. If she js reliable, hard-working and honest, I would personally give her another shot.

You can't catch head lice by just being in someone's house! You have to touch heads. Can't say I've ever done that with my cleaner!

Oh yes DH has definitely learnt his lesson there! He ended up cleaning the house himself today after she decided she couldn’t stay as he felt so guilty 😂

Have asked the cleaning company to allocate a different cleaner going forwards. Our cleaner was great but I can’t guarantee the head lice won’t be back next week/month, and she’s clearly terrified!

If your husband said lice instead of head lice I can well understand your cleaner being uncomfortable. I wouldn't like to change beds (yes cleaners do this) or towels incase if infection.



I got head lice from public transport. It must have been that as I had not been in contact with young children or anyone else that had their head next to mine at all. I couldn't believe it, so I must have caught them off either bus or rail travel. So she is not being entirely ridiculous.

Your DH shaved his head and you think the cleaner overreacted? 🤣She must have thought, how big are the lice! 🪳🪳🪳

You can without touching heads. It’s not as common, but it does happen.