The other day, Emily came downstairs on her way to school,
slung her backpack onto the kitchen table where Lizzy and I were eating
breakfast, unzipped a front pouch and pulled out a container of mens’ underarm
deodorant.
She took off the lid, slapped all the broken pieces back
down into one sort of solid piece, then proceeded to put it on under her clothes.
On principle, I try not to swear at my kids but, as I was
caught off guard and laughing, it slipped out.
“Emily! What the hell?”
She looked up at me and continued applying deodorant.
“What? I’m putting on deodorant.”
(“Duh, Mom,” Lizzy piped in.)
“I always take deodorant to school. I sweat a lot. That’s
why I use Dad’s.”
“So you go into the bathroom and put it on in there?”
“No. I put it on in class when no one is looking.”
I let that sink in.
She said if she feels sweaty, or feels like she smells like
she’s sweaty, she just looks around, slumps down into her chair and secretly
applies deodorant under her arms.
She said because she sits in the back of her all her
classes, this isn’t really a problem.
“It’s cool.”
I let that one sink in, too.
I am glad she’s practicing good hygiene. I’m not so sure how
I feel about her practicing it in public.
