Lice. That one word can strike fear into the chillest mom on the playground. You start itching just thinking about those parasites being in your house, on your sheets, and especially on your child. However, when kids get together in crowds, lice happens. It doesn't matter if you shower every day, or have a smell test for your child that results in a weekly soak -- everyone can get lice. You can live in a mansion or in a one-room apartment, lice is an equal opportunity infestation.

So when it happens to you (or hopefully just your kid, but it could also happen to you), here's how you handle a lice infestation in your home. Follow these five steps to empower yourself, take care of business, and try not to freak out.

Every kid's probably pulled this little maneuver: He wants a day off school, so he pretends to be sick. He works up a few fake coughs, assumes a miserable, peaked look, and tells his mom he doesn't feel well enough to go to school. But moms are no dummies. The first thing they'll do is whip out the thermometer and check to see if their little actor really does have a fever.

Things have changed a lot since our own mothers did the fever test on us. No longer are thermometers just thin glass sticks filled with mercury. It can be dizzying to browse the display at your local drugstore if you haven't looked for one in a while. It's helpful to keep in mind that there are just five basic types:

1) Digital thermometer: Readily available, easy to use, and inexpensive. They can be used rectally, orally, and under the arm.

As kids head to school, they'll be contending with the inevitable bumps, bruises, and colds that come with being in close proximity to other children on the playground and in the classroom. Since arguing with your husband about who has to run to the drugstore in their PJs at 1 a.m. is no fun at all, it's a good idea to have a stock of remedies on hand before the most common ouchies strike. Here's a rundown of commercial and natural treatments you need for your home first aid kit:

Cuts and scrapes

Commercial: Antibiotic ointment

Natural: Tea tree oil

As soon as you can, clean the cut to prevent infection. You can find little packs of antibiotic ointment that fit nicely inside a purse or diaper bag. Tea tree oil is said to be a great antiseptic, although as with most natural products, the clinical evidence for those claims is spotty. But it's unlikely to cause harm and if it works for you, why not?

As the start of the school year draws near, many of us feel a familiar feeling of dread -- not about returning to early-morning hours, or homework, or gym class. Instead, we wonder, "Is this the year? Is someone going to pick on him? Is he (gulp) going to bully someone else? Is she going to just stand there while another kid gets picked on?"

As you know if you went to school yourself -- or have ever met children, for that matter -- the answer could be any and all of the above. Kids have always and will always pick on other kids, but schools are becoming increasingly aware that bullying can have harmful consequences and shouldn't get blown off as a normal part of growing up.

That doesn't help much when your kid comes home crying because someone called her a name or laughed at her. But there are ways to help your child handle bullying situations without too much lasting damage to his or her self-esteem.

Kids are by their nature pretty active. They love to run, jump, climb, and generally cause a ruckus. But there are strong forces keeping them pinned to the couch indoors: safety worries, overscheduling, TV, even too much homework. It's our job as moms to disconnect from Facebook, turn off the TV, and lead the parade off the sofa and out the door.

But what to do? Here are some ideas:

1) Nature walk. Make a list of birds, plants, and animals (small yippy dog, say, or black cat) you're likely to find in your neighborhood and check them off once you've seen them.

2) Revive games from your childhood. Red Light/Green Light, Red Rover, and Freeze Tag are still fun, you'll discover.

I'm a firm believer that summer vacation is about six weeks too long, but that said, HOW is it even possible we're heading into the home stretch of summer? Some kids have already started, and pretty much everyone is going back in the next couple of weeks. And with that comes the excitement and anxieties of a new school year. But with some planning and creativity, you can make those first few weeks of school a smooth transition for all of you.

1) Get back on a school schedule. Most families find themselves relaxing their hard and fast bedtimes during the summer ... it stays light later and often we don't have to get anywhere quite so early, so we enjoy every minute of after-dinner lingering and slow, relaxed mornings. But enforcing an early bedtime and wake-up the night or two before school starts isn't going to work.

We all enjoy bending the rules in the summer so the kids can stay up late, and sleep even later. But now school is almost back in session, and it's time to get everyone back on track and ready to rise and shine in time for first period. Rather than waiting for the first school night of the year, try implementing these school night rules ahead of time. Then that's one less thing you have to worry about the night before.

As the days get shorter, put these rules into place to get your kids back on schedule, and less likely to fight the alarm in the morning.

Being a school nurse is no small task, but it's an under-appreciated job in many ways. It's no longer a job that is about Band-Aids and lollipops and calling the parents of feverish children. Now it has become more and more complicated with less and less support.

Imagine being the nurse to more than 1,100 kids every single day because that is what she -- 99 percent of school nurses are women -- is likely to do.

With new medical care and inclusive schools, there are more disabled children with strong needs like respirators, feeding tubes, or catheters. In addition, diabetes, asthma, and severe allergies are far more common. So here are nine reasons to thank your school nurse today: