Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff...

You are What you Eat

                When I was in eighth grade, I spent a week at a GT camp of some sort. It was a lot like sixth grades Outdoor Lab, but it was more about team-building and diversity than nature.

                My mom picked me up from Drake around 1:30, and as we were driving down Ward Road in her maroon minivan, she asked, “Did everyone help cook?”

                “Yeah, sort of. We had different tasks and had to use blind folds and glasses that block your vision and stuff like that, so everyone helped with meals, but it wasn’t always cooking.”

                She nodded as though this made perfect sense. “Did you cook with a lot of onions?”

                I thought back to the meals. It didn’t seem like there were a lot of onions, but maybe mixed into the spaghetti sauce. “Not really. Why?”

                “Oh. You smell like onions,” she said in a normal non-judgmental way.

                I showered as soon as we got home and realized that the smell wasn’t actually onions. I had taken deodorant with me, but had either outgrown the teenage-scent or had forgotten to put it on! I asked Mom for one of the many extra Secret deodorants she had in the linen closet and under the sink, and learned right then to make sure I never ran out.

                Many years later, Dan, Mandi, and their kids were in town and staying with my parents. We decided to go to the zoo, so I got 6-month-old Addie and all of her stuff loaded up and met Dan, Mandi, Kali, DJ, and Grammy by the benches in front of the Denver Zoo. Mom was wearing an adorable hot pink Hawaiian sundress (which she had also worn to my master’s graduation in AZ the year prior). It was surprising to see her in such an outfit because she was always cold, but I thought Oh, this is a good sign. It’s a hot day and she is warm enough to wear a sundress!

                Kali loves animals, so we needed to look in every cage and window to see whatever creature might be there. We went through the feline house and I saw Mom’s arms covered in goose bumps. It is chilly in here. They must have the AC cranked up. I noticed, though, that when we were looking at the tigers outside, she stayed in shaded areas. Hmm… maybe she should be wearing a sunhat.

                When we got to the polar bears, I pushed Addie’s bulky Jeep stroller as close to the glass as I could and took a picture of the big white bear playing with a piece from a wooden ship. I turned around and saw Mom sitting under a little tree. Wow, she’s not only warm enough, but she’s actually hot! But she’s still holding her arms like she’s cold.

                “Are you okay, Mom?” I asked. “Do you need a hat or some sunscreen or anything?” Interesting that at one point, she worried about me, and now I’m worrying about her.

                “I’m okay. Thanks though.”

                “You have goose bumps. Do you want me to sit with you in the sun?”

                “No! I can’t sweat! I think I forgot to put on deodorant!”

                This was the second or third time she had forgotten to put on deodorant in the last couple of years, and with all of her medical treatment, I thought maybe she just kept forgetting to buy it. I offered to give her some of mine, and she laughed.

                “I have a stockpile of deodorant, but I put it on after I put my shirt on so that I don’t get it all over my shirt, and I just forget to put it on sometimes.”

                Stockpile?! She wasn’t kidding! We are still finding stashes of deodorant as we sort through her belongings. Mom taught me to cook with onions in clothes that I’m not wearing out, always have a stash of the necessities (like feminine products, deodorant, toothpaste, soap, and shampoo and conditioner), and don’t sweat the small stuff, but don’t forget to put deodorant on or you are likely to sweat even more!