Deodorant

Have you ever met someone who gets excited and overjoyed about…B.O.? (yeah…b. o. – well, it is April Fool’s after all, right? A day for pranks and fun, and while this is not a joke…it is kind of fun!)

At any rate…

As a typical baby of the family, my nine and a half year-old son Dylan can’t wait to grow up and show us he is more than just our little pet. For a few years now, he has been fascinated by the idea of deodorant. Even though he does not have a clue why, he does understand that putting deodorant on for the first time means some kind of mysterious rite of passage into some sort of more adult state…and he wants in!

He gets this idea, I think, from the fact that every time he asks us if he can put some deodorant on, we say a resounding NO! accompanied by a: “you are too young for that, besides, your armpits don’t stink!” Then, I usually would go to him, raise his little arm up, bury my nose into his armpit, take a good whiff, and say: “nothing but baby smell”.

Well, last Saturday morning, we were urging Dylan to stop being so lazy and get in the shower, but as usual, he was insisting on doing other things, stating that he didn’t need to take a shower. I told him that he stunk. He said he didn’t stink, and the thing went back and forth for a few seconds until I walked to him, raised his little arm, buried my nose in his armpit, took a big whiff…and to my surprise… “O my gosh! Dylan, you stink!” I fell on the floor gagging (over-dramatically, of course!) Then I saw him reaching out with his nose under his own armpit to suddenly hear him shout: “I STINK!” as he raised both arms in joy.

“I need deodorant!” He announced. “Grant, I need deodorant!” “My armpits smell!”

Yeah…

Dan and I didn’t really know what to do, so we just laughed (I mean, really, what else can you do in this situation?)

The rest of the weekend, Dylan kept on “reminding me” to go buy him deodorant at my earliest convenience. I finally convinced him that he could wait until Monday. So sure enough, as soon as he walked into the house after school on Monday, first thing he asked: “did you buy me my deodorant?” “Yes.” “Where is it?” “Over there.” “Hey, it’s the same Grant uses.” “Yes.” “What does ‘Speed Stick’ mean?” “I don’t know…it’s just the name of it” “I’m going to tell my friends!” “Uhumm” “Can I bring it to school tomorrow to show them?” “No.” “Can I show Grant?” “Okay.” “Can I put some on right now?” “Yes.” “How do you open it?” “Sigh…”

I just couldn’t stand it. The whole thing was surreal, but incredibly cute. It was also bittersweet. My little baby is growing up…

I know the coming years will bring many changes for my boys as they enter adolescence. But there is still time to enjoy their innocence for a little longer. So I better savor all the sweetness I can squeeze out of them right now, while I’m still able. One thing has definitively changed for good, though…I won’t be burying my nose into anybody’s armpits in this house any more.

p.s.: he’ll hate me if he ever finds out I wrote this post…