You Smell Like Grandma’s House

So glad I didn't have to get tie dye out of my 6th grader's laundry from Outdoor Education Camp!

We have a joke in the Musings from Me house that my MIL is so intent on keeping the kids clean that she puts the kids in the washing machine. Disclaimer: I only joke about this with my preteen and teen…don’t want to the kid to get any ideas!

It is not unheard of for my MIL to wash an outfit that a kid got dirty and have the outfit washed, dried, and possibly ironed before we leave after spending the afternoon at Grandma’s house. In our house my kids are lucky to have clean clothes on a daily basis!

It is not just the speed of the laundry process that is noteworthy…it’s the scent, too. All items smell of detergent, fabric softener, bleach, and dryer sheets. It’s a little overpowering, but still smells good and clean…odd I know! My MIL leaves no stone unturned in her laundry arsenal. 

The scent is not wholly unpleasant. It’s just a little overwhelming in an olfactory sort of way. There is no question as to whether a garment has been washed or not. The scent gives it away — you can smell the garment in the next room.

Speaking of scents, I can’t help but think of perfume… As a teen my family travelled to France regularly — we lived in England so it was easy to drive to Dover, drive on the the car ferry (the Chunnel had not been built yet), drive off the car ferry at Calais, and motor in to France. We visited Paris (a couple of times), La Rochelle (it rained every day for our July vacation), the Loire valley (chateaux and wine country) Le Sable d’Olonne, the south of France (Monaco/Monte Carlo, La Cadiere D’Azur, Menton), and quite a few places in between. One of the most memorable was a visit to Fragonard perfume factory in Grasse.

My parents were constantly stopping to tour vineyards and cognac factories. Oh and of course sampling the wines. Hey! I don’t recall a designated driver! My sister and I would enjoy the tours, but were never able to sample the wines or cognac. Lest you feel sorry for us — it was a good thing as I was 14 and my sister 12!

At the Fragonard perfume factory I saw how perfumes were made and then tested out many of the fragrances. Fragonard made the essence for perfumes such as Chanel, Miss Dior, and many others. For years I had a small bottle of Le Cinq, which was a version of Chanel No. 5 before Chanel added the secret ingredient. I bought my bottle of Le Cinq with my pocket money something I could not afford if I purchased the real Chanel.   

Why am I writing about the smell of our laundry? I saw this post and got inspired. If scents are your thing — Downy is hosting a contest, Design Your Scent. Enter their contest for a chance to help design one of the next Simple Pleasure scents. You could also win $100 Spa Finder Gift card in their weekly sweeps. Check it out here.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 9th, 2009 at 11:39 am and is filed under English Memories, Family, Moms, Musings on Family, family fun, holiday, holidays, memories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.