A So Cal Girl in the Desert

As part of my stepson's back-to-school gear, we purchased him his first stick of deodorant. Tom's of Maine Natural Unscented. The natural part so he doesn't get alzheimer's, and the unscented part so he doesn't get teased for smelling like a girl. I remember getting my first stick of deodorant, and it was not when I was eight years old. I think I was in Jr. High...sixth or seventh grade. I remember being a little embarrassed about it. I guess twelve-year-olds are embarrassed about a lot of stuff. My stepson isn't because he's not old enough to know to be embarrassed that he stinks. I guess that's one of the benefits of starting something early. When I put it on his pits for the first time the other day, he was cracking up because it tickled. Now he's doing it himself, and "it doesn't tickle at all anymore!" What a wonder! Yesterday when we picked him up from school, he had two things to report. Mr. Teacher had offered each of the kids in his class a guinea pig (he breeds them or something) as long as they brought a cage and a permission note from their parents, and "my friend wears deodorant, too!" When asked how he discovered that, he said that he just told his friend about his deodorant, but he "can't remember what my friend said about his deodorant." There were even a few kids in his second grade class who wore it. Age seven! You may think it's odd to be worried about that stuff when they're so young, but it's not for them, it's for you, the parent. I knew it was time toward the end of second grade when he hopped in my car after a long day of playing and I just about passed out. You can't drive a car safely that way. I had to open the widows. It wasn't that dirty, sweaty little boy smell. It was genuine man B.O. I even stuck my nose right in his pit when we got home, out of disbelief. He just laughed. I guess B.O. is right up there with farting nowadays.

So when did the deodorant age plummet down to seven? And how did this happen? Are we just more conscious of it, or is body chemistry changing that drastically due to the amount of preservatives that are in our food? Did our parents wait until age eighteen to start wearing it? Will our children's children be starting deodorant as a milestone in line with eating solid foods? Will Baby B.O. be an epidemic, leaving behind that sweet, sweet smell that has been known since the dawn of time? I wonder. In know one thing is true...Tom is a saint in our home.