The Scents of Motherhood

There are some things that you can never forget, and one of those things are certain smells.  Have you ever caught a whiff of something and been taken back in time to something in your past?  There is a certain perfume that I wore when I was dating my husband and when I smell it, the floodgate of memories pours over me.  There are also smells that I wish I could forget…

I’ve noticed lots of different scents this past year.  My son was born in December of last year, so we are about to celebrate his first birthday.  There have been lots of smells associated with becoming a mom.  First, there is the scent of Dreft detergent.  That’s a pleasant smell.  Then there’s the smell of baby lotions and shampoos and powders and bubble bath and all of the squeaky clean smells.  I just love to sniff my son’s freshly washed hair.  It makes me want to gobble him up, or at least kiss him fifteen thousand times.

Another smell I’ve become familiar with is the wood scent of his clothes coming out of his pine chest of drawers.  It’s a pungent odor, but not unpleasant.  This was something new at first, but now it is completely recognizable to me.  Anytime I smell that particular scent in the future I’ll be taken back to his first year.

The smells of motherhood can be overpowering at times.  I doubt I’ll forget the smell of spitup anytime soon.  When I walk into his room every morning, the overwhelming smell is urine.  This morning, I picked up my son and was smacked in the face with the scent of a freshly dirtied diaper.  This makes most people groan, but I gladly change his diaper no matter how much it makes me want to gag.  One reason for this is that I just remind myself that there are lots of women in the world who only wish they had a baby whose diaper they’d be privileged to change.  (YES, it is a privilege to change a baby’s diaper!  Jesus says in Matt. 18:5 that whatever we do for the “lease of these” we do for Him--- He counts service to small children as service unto Himself.) 

I am so eternally grateful for the wonderful gift of my son and all of the scents and smells that come with him.  I know in the coming years he’ll emit lots of new smells (some good, but mostly probably not so pleasant!), and I will rejoice in each one because it will mean that he is a part of my life.

Small Things

I was thinking today that there are a lot of small things that make me very happy.  I am grateful for God for…

• My Dr. Grip ink pen.  It’s pink, and it makes me VERY happy when I get to write with it.  It writes so smoothly because it has gel ink, and the ink is very black.  It’s a fat pen with a great rubber grip that helps my hand not get tired when I’m writing long letters.  (Yes, I still write old-fashioned letters!  And send them in the mail!)
• My small whisk.  It was a wedding present, and when I think about all of the wedding presents I received, it is my second favorite.  (Right behind my Kitchenaid mixer.)  It is an 8-inch whisk with a black rubber handle and I use it frequently.  It makes me happy because it’s JUST the right size.  Bigger whisks feel clumsy in my hands.  I whisk everything with my small whisk and rarely use my big one.
• My pocket ESV Bible.  It has a brown leather cover and crinkly pages.  My mom gave it to me for my birthday a few years ago, and it makes me happy despite its very small print. 
• Undies with stretchy lace waist bands.  This prevents the “sausaging” effect.  ‘Nuff said.
•  Liquid eye liner.  I never can get an eyeliner pencil to look just right.  I’m not saying that my eye liner looks especially good, but it’s definitely better than when I use a pencil!  (Now to find the perfect mascara…)
• Little boys’ socks.  Two nights ago, my Little One was sitting on the floor and he pulled off his socks.  The next morning, his socks were still sitting where he’d left them, and it brought tears to my eyes just seeing those sweet little socks sitting there.  I almost took a picture of them (now I wish I had so I could post it here), but then I mentally made fun of myself for being so incredibly sentimental.  I know that he is going to grow up so fast, and I will look back on these moments wistfully.  I am trying ever so hard to enjoy them RIGHT NOW because our lives are a whisper and a vapor and before I know it he will be a man and his wife will be picking up his socks in my place.  It just made me inexplicably happy to see his little socks sitting there where he’d left them.  Small things.