My son sat on the floor carefully tying his shoes while I buckled the straps of my own dressy shoes for work on a stool nearby.
After pulling the last shoelace loop tight, he popped up and leaned into me for one of our special before school hugs.
Leaning back slightly and leveling his eyes with mine he declared, “You smell nice.”
I explained to him that on the two days a week I worked, I wore fancier clothes, a little more make up, and sometimes I wore perfume.
“I ran out of my usual perfume so I put on a sample of a new kind, “ I explained.
“It smells good. Just like green beans.” I chuckled to myself, enjoying the moment as he skipped away and stuffed his lunch bag into his backpack.
In the following weeks I shied away from wearing any other perfume samples. After receiving a refill of my perfume for a holiday, my son and I were again preparing for our day and took a moment for our special hug.
This time as we were eye to eye, my son put his hands on my shoulders and excitedly reported, “Mom, you smell good again! Only this time you smell like sushi.”
My heart swelled at being noticed a second time. Living in a house with only males, someone was always walking around with their shirt off, the toilet seat was usually left up, underwear and socks littered the floors, and compliments were sometimes rare. On this day, though, I smiled knowing I smelled liked anything to anyone even if it was green beans and sushi.