The Smelly Kid

A few days ago I learned that a friend’s 7-year-old boy is going through a new phase:  an aversion to being clean.  Apparently this is common among little boys.  In my own, it’s more like a general aversion to doing anything I want them to do, whether it’s bathing, getting dressed, eating, sitting still for half a second, please!  Etc.  They haven’t yet resisted bathing in particular, but thanks to this friend, I won’t be surprised.

She and her husband have been trying to convince the boy that if he doesn’t bathe, he’ll be known as The Dirty Kid.  And once you get a nickname in elementary school, it’s really hard to shake it.  Don’t ask me how I know that.

This morning as Kyle was eating breakfast, I got a whiff of something incredibly foul.  It took me a few minutes to identify the smell, and it finally hit me:  Unwashed Boy.  It had only been maybe 36 hours since he bathed.  Apparently now that he is 5, that is too long!

So since it’s Picture Day I gave him a bath in the morning which is not the normal schedule.  All through the process he asked “Why am I taking a bath in the morning?” and I eventually explained to him that he was smelly, and he doesn’t want to become The Smelly Kid.

Plus, I really can’t stand that smell.