We were introduced to parenting with daughters.  They would read on their own, play quietly in their rooms and even on the muckiest of days, maintain and semblance of cleanliness.

And then we had a son.

I picked him up in the car today after school and I could smell him.  He carried an actual “stench” around him like a purple fog of stink.

He is dirty. And he smells.  And the stench is in deep.

And I love him dearly, I really do, but I love him even more when I am able to hug him and not get myself dirty.

And, lets be real here, he comes by it honestly.  My husband is amazing, but if there is an opportunity to get dirty or stained, he will find it.  He has passed this trait proudly to our son, who is fully committed to bringing it to life.

Now, there is only so much I can do to battle their stench and stains.  Regular baths, and fresh sheets can only do so much, especially when their mucky clothes just get rolled into a ball and stuffed into a basket of laundry.

Stains are hard to combat when they are hidden among clean towels.

So, when it comes to keeping my “boys” clean I go with the all or none type of scenario. We treat every item of their clothing at “defcon 5” status.  It can’t be worse, so we better give it all we got.

That means that every wash, my boys get “the good stuff”  The product that is going to fight the stains, and battle the smells, even if I didn’t even know they were there.

And while this isn’t a permanent solution, it does last for a few glorious, fresh smelling hours where I can hug my men with out the risk of suffocation, and that is worth it.