The Smells of Motherhood (And why we love Scent Fill!)

Walk into any home where kids reside and the smells of motherhood come flooding through… Some of the smells are great but most…. not so much. Luckily, we’ve got a solution for each stinky, smelly problem and a giveaway from our friends at Scent Fill.

Let’s start from the beginning…

Every pregnant woman I know has remarked on their superhuman power of smell. It’s as if pregnancy is preparing you for all the olfactory assaults that motherhood is about to bring. (Here’s a great explanation of why this may happen, according to the Pregnant Scientist! My favorite theory is that it’s a protective mechanism to keep you from inhaling harmful substances.)

When I was pregnant with my first, we lived in a 14 floor apartment building. Someone on the floor below prepared elaborate Indian dinners EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. Now, I love me some Tika Masala. But when preggers, the smell, especially of curry, made me gag.

(A great solution for sensitive pregnant noses would have been Scent Fill’s All Natural Scented Oil Plug-in Refills.)

Mother’s Milk is Sweet… until it ISN’T.

Sour milk is truly one of the worst smells ever but it’s also the first of many smells of motherhood. Any mom of a newborn will tell you that sour milk smell winds its way into your life, no matter how hard you try. Babies haven’t yet learned table manners, or how to control their own digestive systems, so milk comes up and hides in all of those adorable fat crevices of baby’s neck. My mother-in-law used to say my son’s neck smelled like rotten cheese. This was even with two baths a day! And it’s not just baby that smells. Somehow milk leaks out of bottles onto bed linens, car seats, and strollers.

Solution: Try Scent Fill’s Fresh Linen Scent, one of my favorites. Scent Fill’s Oil Refills fit both Glade and Airwick Plug-in Warmers. Milk smell be obliterated!

The Most Obvious Smell of Motherhood… All the Poo.

Even worse than spoiled milk, is the poo. And the poo smell can last for years. I can’t tell you how much money I wasted on different kinds of diaper pails to contain the scent. Nothing worked. Because, really, the only way to get rid of poop smell is to get rid of poop. But those cute little ones just keep making more. You’ll be surprised at the variety in color and texture. And it’s not just babies.

There’s the poo smell as you potty train. My kid always had to go Number Two during dinner, without fail. Whether we were at home eating pizza or at a five-star, white tablecloth restaurant. And I would have to get up from the meal I was enjoying to go wipe a butt. And smell the poo.

There’s the poo smell of older, school age kids who forget to flush. My 8 year old STILL leaves me surprises! (Now we’re talking the SIGHTS and smells of motherhood!)

And of course, the poo smell of your spouse. Let’s get real, ladies. When you’ve been married as long as I have, you can tell who used the facilities last by the smell alone. True love.

The Solution: Scent Fill has a “Sanitizing Blend.” I LOVE IT. It’s 100% natural, it actually eliminates odors, instead of just covering them up.

Icky, Old Food Smells. (Why can’t they remember to clean out their backpacks??)

There’s nothing like smelling something rotten emanating from the front hall closet, only to realize that you are six days into summer break and your kid has forgotten to clean out their backpack from the last day of school. Even though we have a strict rule about cleaning out lunch boxes and putting bags and coats away as soon as we get home, this has happened more than once in my house. In fact, once, I just said, “Screw it,” and threw out the moldy lunchbox.

Solution: When you need an actual vacation from your kids’ summer vacation AND their smells, reach for Scent Fill’s Island Essence, made with 100% actual orange essential oil.

Sweaty Athletic Equipment Stinks

Not to be all sexist, but this is one I hear mostly from my fellow #BoyMoms. The uniforms and equipment that go along with organized sports are just gross. Other than burn them, what’s a mom to do? This is one of the smells of motherhood I could most do without.

Solution: Scent Fill’s Dryer Fresh Refill smells like warm, clean sheets right out of the dryer. You know, the way your kids’ laundry would smell if they actually did it instead of leaving it in a pile for YOU to do.

The Best Motherhood Smell of All…

New baby head smell. Don’t let me near the fuzzy warm head of a newborn. It’s like crack to me. My ovaries feel like they are about to explode and all of a sudden, I want to birth more and more of those darling, sweet smelling bundles. TALK ME OUT OF IT. I’m over 40 and overwhelmed as it is. But damn, they smell good.

Scent Fill Giveaway

This post is sponsored by Scent Fill. We were sent product to try out and were compensated for this post. (Hey, our summer camp payments are coming up!) All opinions are our own.

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Jen

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo is the creator/writer/and producer of Mom Cave TV, an online network of comedy shows for moms including Slummy Mummy, Double Leche, Blabbermom, and MomCave LIVE. She's a working actress in NYC who has appeared in films, commercials, and some very off-off Broadway plays. When she’s not writing about the funny side of being a mom (for blogs like Scary Mommy and Mamalode) Jennifer can be found eating Reese’s Cups while furiously bidding on vintage clothing on eBay. She lives with her husband, Evan, bandleader of The Hot Sardines and two spirited children.

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