Recently we had a birthday
party for my youngest son. He turned
14! I was sad. He is growing up WAY too fast. He had a sports themed party with almost 20
boys attending. They played basketball,
flag football, and dodge ball.
In the middle of the party we
had everyone come into our garage to take a break before eating to warm up
since it was cold out. We cleared an
open space for a circle of chairs so they could play a few indoor games while
waiting.
Once they were all gathered
in and sitting down playing their game,
it hit me like a sack of potatoes… “IT
STINKS!”
I know they couldn’t help it…
they were having fun playing games. Even
though it was cold outside, the sweat poured out leaving them helpless to the
smell. When you add that much sweat to a
small room packed with almost 20 boys, it’s bound to stink, right?
As I bounded in and out of
the garage making food preparations the stench became a little unbearable at
times. I did what any other disturbed mom
would do… I grabbed the Febreze and attacked the problem. As each boy walked by to get their food I
sprayed the floor secretly by them hoping some might get onto their clothes
without them noticing. Despite my
efforts, the smell continued to linger. I
was SO tempted to just spray down each boy individually, but my husband restrained
me assuring me “it’s okay…. just let them be...”
I surrendered to the smell
and buried myself in the kitchen. Later,
as we continued the Birthday celebration in the house, I was surprised to find
that their smell was actually neutralized.
How could it be? Well, I must
admit I do have some secret weapons I use to defuse the stink in my home on a
regular basis. I had no idea it would
work on such a large group of boys.
Because inquiring minds want to
know how I do it, I am sharing all of my secrets below. Here goes…
“Tips for Managing a
Stinky Home and Stinky Boys”
Stinky Home Help…
General Clean-up:
Just keeping things clean
around the house helps a lot. Some
things to watch for would be: dirty
clothes lying around, dirty dishes in the sink, full bags of trash in the
kitchen, and un-flushed toilets (using a toilet brush & cleaner helps a lot
too!)
Room by Room:
Give each room a smell
check. Where does it smell the MOST? Those are the rooms that will need the most
help. I focus specifically on bedrooms,
bathrooms, and the high traffic areas.
Neutralize it:
Those extra stinky areas will
need on-going extra help to neutralize the smell. Some of my secret weapons are:
Candles- for main living areas (kitchen, dining room, &
living room areas). I generally stick
with scents like: vanilla, ginger bread, cinnamon, or butter cream… calming
scents. They are less offensive to
people who might visit with allergies.
Floral scents stir up sneezing fits and can give headaches… believe me I
know this from first-hand experience.
Wallflowers- from Bath & Body Works. I put these outlet air fresheners everywhere
around my house. I use similar scents as
listed above. I try to put a Wallflower
in each of my most stinkiest rooms and the high traffic areas. Can I say that? SO… for my house I have them in the hallway,
living room, bathrooms, and my boys’ bedroom.
Their bedroom requires one Wallflower and a stand up air freshener to
neutralize the smell (Both Vanilla scented).
In order to neutralize with this tool, you need to use a lot of the same
scents throughout the house. Using
different scents in each room can work against your efforts causing a different
kind of stink all together.
Over the Top:
If after doing all of this,
the smell still lingers there is one last thing I try. I get a room freshener spray or body spray
(usually cinnamon, vanilla, or sweet pea) to use throughout the house. I spray lightly all furniture, bedding, dirty
laundry, rugs, and curtains. This is not
an every day thing. I do it randomly
maybe before visitors may come or if I notice that the house is starting smell
bad.
Not only have I been asked
about my house, but inquiring minds want to know
how I deal with stinky boys
too. So here goes…
Stinky Boy Help…
Ever since the boys were
little we pushed the importance of good hygiene. When they hit puberty we kicked it up a
notch. We enlightened them to the fact
that they would soon begin to stink MORE.
It just happened naturally and is a part of growing up, but we needed to
work extra hard to keep the stink under control.
I must admit as a mom I
pushed everything to the extreme. I
encouraged showers so they wouldn’t get acne, brushing their teeth so they
wouldn’t get cavities, changing underwear so they wouldn’t get fungus between
their legs, and wearing deodorant and body spray so they wouldn’t be known as
the stinky boy at school.
Now that I vocalize this to
the masses, it doesn’t sound so good. I
sound like a crazy mom. Maybe I am. My goal is to help these boys develop good
habits that they will hopefully carry into their adult life. Some day their wives will thank me for all of
my hard work, right? Hopefully my efforts
to raise less stinky boys will inspire you in some way to do the same. If not, I hope you enjoy a laugh or two on me
as you read the list below.
“Tips for Managing Stinky
Boys”…
Encourage Good Hygiene:
Start Out Clean-
Have your boy start his day
by putting on clean clothes. This
includes changing undergarments daily too.
Buy enough so he doesn’t have a reason not wear clean ones. This will help immediately with the smell.
Have you ever had the
privilege of being in a room full of stinky boys? Its powerful bad! Body odor rages out of control within these
young men and it takes hard work to manage the smell.
Our weapons of choice are Men’s
Deodorant & Men’s Body Spray. We get
the cheap kind and buy several to stock them up (Right Guard Sport Deodorant
& Axe Body Spray). We encourage them
to put both on in the morning, deodorant after they play sports or have P.E.,
and both before they go anywhere special like church. They keep some in their gym bags, I keep a
spare in my purse, and we did keep one in each car until they melted with the
summer heat.
Bad Breath-
Another side effect of
puberty is bad breath. We encourage the
boys to brush their teeth at least twice a day and I keep mints in my purse for
smelly mouth emergencies. Mouth wash is
a good tool to keep close by too!
Stinky Feet-
Foot odor is inevitable for
boys especially if they play sports.
They should start their day with clean socks and change later to new
socks if they play any sports. Special
socks and inserts are available in stores to help with the smell if it’s over
the top with stink.
Shower Power-
We encourage the boys to
shower every other day normally.
But if its summer time or they are playing sports it’s an every day
thing with no arguing about it. The
sooner they shower after sports, the better it will smell in your house.
Do you struggle with a stinky
home or a stinky family? Hopefully my
crazy, yet creative ways of keeping my house and boys stink-free has been
helpful for you. If nothing else maybe
it has brought a smile to your face.
Enjoy the giggles on me!
Living to leave a legacy,
Julie
