Hugs & Kisses & Sniffies

...and then sometimes I smell them...

Our youngest daughter has sort of a bizzarre bedtime ritual.

It goes about the same as every kid's in that we - brush teeth, read a story, and get the requisite textiles all snuggled in.  By the way, thank you Lord for drawing my attention right away to a lost blanket this evening.  I owe ya one...billion.

But Susan (age nearly 5) has invented another ritual that she calls: Hugs and Kisses and Sniffies.

Yes, not only are my hugs and kisses in high demand at bed time, but so is my aroma.  And as flattering as this may be, it super cracks me UP!

She likes to especially smell my shirt right on the collar.  I suppose it retains my perfume the best...but with taking care of infants all day, I would wager there may be some "other" smells...

It's so indicative of the way a child thinks, though.  She give me a quick hug, a little kiss and then pulls me as close as possible and inhales so deeply that I'm glad I don't have long hair!  Sometimes I get critiqued or admonished...mostly if I've been to the pool that afternoon...if I don't smell the same.  The little squirt can tell if I used my Bath and Body Works spray or my Armani Perfume!

It got me to thinking about the way I look at my beautiful life.  I usually admire it quickly and quietly but rarely take time to really inhale it.  I, too, am a creature of the olfactory sense.  During pregnancy there were certain smells that I just couldn't live with as I was way to sensitive at that time.  I like my clothes to smell a certain way, like a certain kind of dish soap, use certain herbs in cooking and baking that please me greatly.

So - what does my life smell like?

Well, I suppose in a literal sense it smells like diapers, soap, cereal and cheese.  It smells like dryer sheets, and hand sanitizer and toothpaste.  But even better, it smells like rosy cheeks from the sun, well loved blankets and mud from a pie made in the back yard.

It smells like tears and laughter and squealing and running.  It smells like discovery and pain and peace.  And even when my life kind of stinks, it is still worthy of a good long sniff.

That's what I learned from my (super duper nearly) 5 year old today.