"What's that smell?"

I remember like it was yesterday, Emily at about 3 years old going on and on in the car or in the store or at home about the little girls (Lindsey and Lauren) smelling bad. She would say, "Oh, mom, what is the stinky smell?.. Something really stinks, what is it?... I can smell something.. something sticks so bad!" She would just go on and on about it. Normally it was when the little girls had a stinky diaper and normally they seemed to always do it about the same time. One would go and the other one would go with in the next 15 minutes it seemed. Emily would crack me up when she would say this.

I always try to down play smells along with personal appearance ("Mom-look at her feet, they are so big, they don't even fit her shoes... oh and look at her legs mom, do you see her legs?") the girls seem to always notice. I guess I am a lot like my mom that way. I am always saying things to down play it or change the subject. Trying not to bring attention to things like that which might be embarrassing to others. With that being said, I don't know why my girls have not caught on to that idea, or why they can't just ignore things like that.

Amber lately has turned into Emily at age 3 when she would smell a smell and have to know what it was, she doesn't seem to be as upset about it like Emily was, but more curious where it is coming from and what it is. She will ask me what that stinky smell is. This morning Amber starts in with "what is that smell? Can you smell that mom, something smells stinky. Phew," as she waves her hand in front of her nose, "something is really stinky!" I asked her if she was stinky, she told me no. I figured it must be Samantha. I grab Samantha, she is in need of a diaper change, but nothing really smelly in the diaper area. I change her diaper. Amber by now has moved on to other things, so she is only commenting about the stinky smell a bit here and a bit there, she is no longer obsessed with asking me "what is that smell" and asking me what sticks constantly. I grab Amber, lay her down to change her diaper, and sure enough I found the smell. As I opened Amber's diaper she said, "I found it!" I am trying to figure out what she is talking about. I asked her what she found. "I found that stinky smell, it was me. I was a stinky smell. I didn't know that I was that stinky smell. Thanks for getting rid of that stinky smell."

There's never a dull day around here with Amber, well with any of the girls really.