Ah, the joys of boys!

Ah, the joys of boys... When they reach a certain age later on in elementary school, they begin wearing a new fragrance.  It is called the "swamp smell."

I have found that it doesn't matter if you live on property with a pond or on a property without much nature at all in a congested area.  This smell seems to inhabit boys coming from different families, cultures, and places.  It is also clear that they must be proud of this smell.  

The gasps and sighs when given specific instruction every. single. time these boys head toward the shower is a clear indicator that they actually like the swamp smell.  It is as if even the thought of soap causes them to shudder in fear of that kind of clean smell coming in contact with their body.  It seems that this soap insults them and wounds them deeply.  

(To be fair, the fragrance actually changes slightly when a shower has been taken without the use of soap.  This is called the "wet dog smell."  It might be worse since it is just a plain waste of good water.) 

Neither smell is appealing to the average adult human, but for some strange reason these boys wear these smells proudly.  It's a good thing that as mothers we can love them regardless of their smell.  

~Michelle