Dear Valued Users,
It's with a heavy heart that we announce the permanent closure of StepTalk.org on August 31st, 2025.
This decision wasn't an easy one. For over twenty years, StepTalk has been a source of support for stepparents around the world! However, over the years, the costs associated with maintaining and upgrading the site to remain secure, meet current standards and maintain availability have become unsustainable.
We are incredibly grateful for your support, contributions and the community you've helped us build. Your engagement has made StepTalk.org a special place and we cherish the memories and connections made here.
We would especially like to thank Aniki for volunteering to be a moderator and for caring so much.
Thank you for being a part of our journey and we wish you all the best.
Sincerely,
Dawn and The StepTalk Team
much like fleas..you will
much like fleas..you will notice bites.
If the school is finding them, I would be careful about the boy bringing stuff home like clothes.
I think hot water/steam can kill them so thoroughly washing his gym clothing would be important.
You do NOT want an infestation! They are hard to get rid of I think.
YIKES!! He does his own
YIKES!! He does his own laundry so I will have to monitor that again to be sure he is washing it correctly.
He changes from school clothes to uniforms back to go home clothes in that locker room. :O
This is probably overkill but
This is probably overkill but you really don't want bed bugs in your home. They are very difficult to get rid off.
https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/pest-control-tips/bedbug...
Thank you Notsobad. I'd
Thank you Notsobad. I'd rather overkill than have bed bugs. EWWWWAAAA
I have no advise. This is
I have no advise. This is awful to have to worry about.
(((HUGS))))
Those suckers can live for a
Those suckers can live for a year without feeding. They can live in your outlets. And very expensive to get treated.
OMG Im totally skeeved!!! I
OMG Im totally skeeved!!! I just called DH and freaked. He is trying to calm me down. He is calling the school. BLEH
My cousin was covered in
My cousin was covered in bites from one night in a hotel. She never felt a thing, just woke up covered in red marks.
Luckily she didn't bring them home but then again she burned her suitcase and most of the clothes she'd taken..
It was a work trip and only for the one night. Her job reimbursed her and the hotel shut down for a week. There'd been other complaints but it took her company threatening legal action for them to do anything.
Now I check the mattress seams of any hotel we stay at.
Its my dark secret as well.
Its my dark secret as well. We got them after moving into a place that had them in the carpet. We trashed a couch and beds. We slept in the living room to be bait for months because it orginated from an old couch that was there when we moved in. We lived out of plastic totes.
I used diamatous earth everywhere. I trashed so much stuff. I trashed a bunch of books after reading they will climb in the bindings . I did a serious vacuum 3 times a day. Vacuuming the bed every morning. They were seriously in the screw head of my infant seats...we switched to bumbos.
You know those fabric bins? I found bugs hidden in the cracks of those. We found bugs in cracks of a cd binder.
It completely changes how you live. Everything and i mean everything that remained in the house was wiped with rubbing alcohol before being boxed up. I have lived in the current place for over a year now and almost 2 years since bedbugs.
Still have yet to unseal the bins with most decorative items.
We regularly vaccum and steam our couches now. My bed now has its legs in the bed bug plastic things so bugs cannot crawl up the legs. I have diamatous earth sprinkled all along the wall behind bed and night stand.
It has been almost 2 years and i still get a feeling of panic if i see a bug around a bed or couch. I found a tiny beetle a few months ago and went on a vaccuming and bug check spree just in case.
Eta: it was what first sent me on a minimalism journey and i now own about 8 empty plastic totes, that i cannot part with because maybe the bugs will show lol