Monday, March 11, 2013

Monday Listicles: Ten Fantastic Smells

So for today, Stasha has assigned us the task of “Ten Fantastic Smells”.


Well, living with boys, I could easily come up with a list of Ten NON-Fantastic smells. But I won’t. Instead, I actually opted to ask the PBA to each write their own list of Top Five Fantastic Smells and Top Five Worst Smells. I have typed them exactly as they were written (which perhaps tells me we might need to work a little bit harder on our spelling).

On a side note, just a week ago, in anatomy, we were talking about the nose and the sense of smell, and how it is so closely tied to the ability to taste. And we also talked about “scent memories” and how certain scents can remind of us things or people from the past. All that being said, these lists were no big deal for them, as it tied in nicely to what we just recently discussed.

Just had to toot my own horn there for a second.

And explain to you that I'm not a Mean Mommy, unable to write her own blog but makes her poor, innocent, defenseless children write it for her.

So without further delay, here it goes:

The 9yo’s List of Top Five Best Smells (Reminder: I included spelling mistakes which were in the original transcript as it was given to me):

  1. “Peanut butter cause I like eating it.” As an aside, he’s not the only one who loves to smell it or eat it…the dog comes running in the kitchen and remains glued to my side, licking his chops, anytime I open a peanut butter jar. Or anything which may remotely make a sound as though I were opening a peanut butter jar.
  2. “Chocolat candles because I like chocolate.”  I don’t know why he didn’t just simply say “chocolate” because I hardly ever burn candles, and when I do, they are scented something like “Clean Cotton” or a light, fresh, clean scent. I don’t need anything, least of all a candle, tempting me to eat something chocolate.
  3. “Coffe because it is like I am watching 'Dangerous Grounds'.”  In case you are not aware, “Dangerous Grounds” is a show on the Travel channel (that we obviously watch on occasion), and the premise is that this coffee shop owner (mogul, if you will) travels the globe looking for the best coffee for his shops…and “often” is in dangerous situations as he is attempting to find, and then purchase, the beans. I think it’s interesting that he selected the show for his “why” because his own mother and father brew and drink coffee every.single.morning. One might assume that the smell of coffee maybe, perhaps, would remind him of home or family, or something like that. Nope…a tv show. My children are not jaded in the slightest bit.
  4. “Strawberry because it reminds me of lunch.” Interesting because except in the summer when they are more readily available and inexpensive, we don’t have strawberries all that often. Nor do we necessarily have them at lunch. It doesn’t really matter because at least he didn’t say “because it reminds me of a Pop-Tart.”
  5. “Fresh beds because it makes me want to lay down.” In addition to working on spelling, we apparently need to work on the difference between “lay” and “lie”. But this does encourage me in the task of weekly stripping sheets and washing them does not go by unnoticed. Actually, truth be told, the PBA strip the beds, I wash the sheets, and then they remake the beds. So with all that involvement on their part, it would be difficult for it to be a task going by unnoticed. But I'm still taking some credit.

Now for the 11uo’s List of Top Five Best Smells (and yes, I’m calling him out on this but he didn’t quite follow my instructions of the “why”):

  1. "Strawberries." Now I didn’t say this on his brother’s list, but it doesn't make it less-true...I don’t really think strawberries have a strong scent…but maybe that’s just me.
  2. "Mint." No disagreements.
  3. "Cinnamon." This spice is in many of his favorite fall and winter sweet treats, so that’s probably why it made it on his list.
  4. "Pineapple."  I’ve got nothing on this. Yes, it’s nice but still an interesting choice.
  5. "Tacos."  This one kind of throws the list off, doesn’t it? He’s going along with light, fresh clean scents (I’m thinking light fruit and toothpaste or Altoids…and then he throw in “tacos”. I mean, I love me some Mexican food, and after eating it, the fruit he listed, or a piece of gum in the flavor of either mint or cinnamon would be refreshing. 
I am making the assumption that he was hungry when he made this list.

Now we move on to the list of Worst Smells. This was ALL the PBA wanted to do, actually: to list the Worst Smells…which should not have surprised me, nor did it surprise me; they are boys, after all.

But when push came to shove, I insisted that they do both lists. And being the dutiful, diligent, upright, eager-to-please, pliable boys that they are (you should notice the sarcasm here because I’m laying it on pretty thing…and as an aside, may I point out that I know the difference between “lay and “lie”)…

So here is the 11yo’s List of Top Five Worst Smells:

  1. My brother’s farts
  2. Dog poop
  3. Rotten food
  4. Gas station bathrooms
  5. Wet dog
I’d say he pretty much nailed that list…any disagreements on any of it? I mean, you wouldn’t really know about the first one, but you can probably imagine…especially once you read the 9yo’s list.

And now the 9yo’s List of Top Five Worst Smells:

  1. “My dog’s medicine cause it stinks!” I do have to agree with him there…it is a topical flea and tick medicine which got really great reviews, but some people did mention that the odor was strong for the first couple/few days. But they also said it was a “spicy” scent…and they related it to cinnamon or nutmeg…only stronger. And I thought, “For a large savings over what we were using, how bad can the smell be?” Well, let me tell you…it is wicked strong. But it does save us BEAUCOUP de dollars, so regrettably we may have to continue to suffer with it.  Sorry to my dear family!
  2. “Ham because it smells like pigs.” I have to disagree with him on that. He’s clearly never smell a pork rind, because that smells more like a pig than anything...except an actual pig. Clearly my child has blocked out every time we have visited the Indiana State Fair and gone through the hog barn, because ham smells nothing like those big sweaty things. And if it does, it’s rancid and should not be eaten.
  3. “Detergent because it stinks.” There seems to be a disconnect between the clean sheets and enjoying that scent, and what is used to actually clean the sheets. Doesn’t matter…he likes the end result, which is more important to me anyway.
  4. “Ink because it smells like a grave.” I have no words to describe this. I don’t know what he’s doing smelling ink (I assume he means ink pens); and he has spent very little time at any graves. Those he has visited have been freshly dug graves. I may be slightly concerned about this boy…
  5. And last but not least: “My farts because they are toxicating.” The kid speaks truth (with the exception of the obvious typo, but I believe you get the point; on second thought he might simply be giving us the opposite of INtoxicating, which would be a good thing…but who really knows. I doubt that he even does.)…Regardless, his gas is pretty vile.  I should really talk to the person who is feeding him…
On that note, I think I should end. Have a fabulous day!



8 comments:

  1. I have to say that I think strawberries do have strong scent - sometimes bad. I love them though. I think if they smell bad then you know you have some good ones. We have strawberry farms around here so they are good and fresh. But if you go pick them and bring them home - DO NOT make any other stops. It will smell like something died in your car. The 9yo's BO list was funny. I like this idea. I'll have to get Christopher's 2 cents on a listicle one day. ;-)

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    1. Well, I can see your point...I was only considering the smell when I'm standing at the sink, cutting off the tops...but yes, as I consider it further, they do have a strong aroma and it is not good...point made. :) Thanks for stopping by!

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  2. Tacos are a nice call. They smell so good.

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    1. I don't disagree...I just had a little bit of whiplash due to the deviation from the theme I thought he was going with. :)

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  3. Hahahahaha Yeah we have some farts here that turn the room green. I'd have to agree on that!!! I'm glad you gave the list to the boys! Funny Kids!
    i heart baby {clean}baby smell and I dislike too many smells to write about here!
    j
    p.s. looks like i can comment on your blog again. at least right now

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    1. Yes, I love clean baby, too...clean anything, actually. Especially clean dog...not WET dog, but "dog fresh from the groomers". Glad you can comment again...I was having trouble on my OWN blog. I'm going to assume it's the platform and not the operators. :)

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  4. Too funny! Wait until your nine-year-old has to dissect a fetal pig in high school...then he'll never want to eat ham again! Oh wait--that was me.

    Great idea to interview your smelly boys. I can relate--I have three of them myself.

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    1. Yes, Marie, I think you're right...the smell from the formaldehyde combined with dead animal is brutal! The funny thing is the kiddo L.O.V.E.S. bacon...even the smell of it. But really, who doesn't?

      Thanks for stopping by! :)

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