It was a family affair. Everyone smelled it. She seemed always to have it in her hand as she walked around the house. Every child checked his and her armpits regularly to make sure they didn't, too, didn't need deodorant. It was exciting.
The months passed. The sweaty summer ended. The move happened. And no one thought about deodorant anymore.
Until a week ago.
Silas, freshly 11, walked into my room with his arms hanging at his sides but held awkwardly away from his body.
Mom. It's so weird. My sweat didn't smell but now it does.
No way! Come here! I sniffed, and lordy! he smelled. Real deal BO.
The natural first step was a pilgrimage to the Ralph's deodorant aisle, just the two of us.
For those of you who haven't done this yet, beware of the dangers of over-smelling. It's what happens when you smell them all trying to find a child-appropriate scent and end up no longer being able to distinguish among them and lose all perspective. It's what happens when you come home with your childly proudly toting Old Spice because it "smells like laundry" and has a picture of an octopus on the label and is called "krakengard" -- what is cooler? So much better than the white Arm & Hammer...
It took all of one second standing in our own kitchen and watching my friend Amy look at the stick to know I'd gone wrong. After all the smelling, I'd bought high-school-boyfriend!
No offense to anyone who wears Old Spice (Ben is often among you), and there is a place for high-school-boyfriend scent, I actually like it, but this, this tender time of first deodorant, was not the place. #nogoingbackonceyouwearfakemanscent -- This was a fail.
You may be able to imagine how instantly attached Silas had become to said stick and how much pride swelled in him when he looked at the octopus and unpronounceable name. And you may be able to imagine how deep the disappointment ran when I told him we immediately had to go back to Ralphs to try again...
But, I held strong, and we did it. Came home with Speed Stick in hand and the Kragengard in Ben's medicine cabinet instead. On this road of inching toward puberty with the first born: Rite of Passage #1, check.
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