My child’s friend’s comment about our home’s smell stopped me in my tracks

I overheard a comment from the hallway that made me prick up my ears. “I didn’t remember it smelled like this at your place,” my youngest child’s friend said upon stepping inside. Like what, bad? Does our home smell bad, and we don’t even notice? Surely it’s not mold?

“Not bad, just like you,” the friend continued as they removed their shoes, and I sighed in relief. Then the two friends began comparing the smells of their mutual acquaintances’ homes. I myself still get scent memories from the homes of my childhood friends. Or from how it smelled at Grandma’s or when visiting relatives.

When you return home after being away for a long time, you can sense its distinctive smell for a brief moment. After a few seconds, you become too accustomed to it to notice it anymore. To me, our porch always smells like sun-warmed wood. It’s the scent of eternal summer. Someone else might describe the smell as a rotting pile of lumber.

Although I like our home’s distinctive smell, my child’s comment prompted me to buy a scent diffuser, and I decided that from now on, our home would only smell intoxicatingly delightful. I became enamored with lemongrass and peppermint, and I used aromatic oil blends so liberally that my family members began to complain. I decided to tone it down and let the diffuser puff out its fragrances only on special occasions.

I once got an invaluable tip about scents from an expert. If you suspect something is wrong with your home’s smell, you should take a piece of fabric from home, seal it tightly in a plastic bag, and open it in a neutral-smelling place—like a swimming pool locker room. If a moldy or musty smell wafts out of the bag, it’s high time to do something about it—other than just buying a scent diffuser.

If not, you can have a deep smell and sigh, “Ah, the scent of my own home!”