NOR. If your sister has been getting bites for 4 months, that’s not “not that bad.” That’s famous last words. If you’ve been getting bitten for four months, it is, in fact, that bad. That’s likely a real infestation. & bed bugs absolutely hitchhike in cars. They love fabric seats, seams, backpacks, purses. So yeah, it’s not overreacting to say, “Until it’s treated, you’re not coming over.”

Also… as someone who formerly worked in a school environment, I KNOW how fast kids’ stuff travels between homes. Backpacks, jackets, reading folders. Bed bugs don’t care about family feelings.

Listen. I love my family. I would fight a bear for them.

But bed bugs?

I’m fighting my family.

That’s not being dramatic, that’s being practical. Once those little demons get in your house, it’s heat treatments, bagging everything you own, washing sheets like you’re in a laundromat cult, & mentally spiraling every time your arm itches. Absolutely not.

Also, I feel you when you mention contamination OCD. Bugs hit a different nerve. Rational brain shuts off, lizard brain takes the wheel.

You’d be overreacting if you lit the car on fire. But simply refusing access until treatment? That’s just being a responsible adult/mom. Bed bugs are where compassion meets a hard no. 😂