Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Smell (the sense of smell) (07/29/10)
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TITLE: A PARENT HAS MANY CHALLENGES | Previous Challenge Entry
By Verna Mull
08/03/10 -
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As a child grows older, it is no surprise that often the odor is not the most pleasant, but they smile and coo, totally oblivious to the not so sweet smell.
Later, we often pick up a little child with a chocolate candy bar smeared all over his face. What a job to clean up the mess.
Older children can be quite another story. There is often a foul odor emitting from some weird things that are leaking out of their pockets or the smell of a small string of fish that Mother is expected to clean and fry.
Well, parents are quite fortunate, if the smells stop there, but my parents were not so blessed.
My brother Gaylord purchased some traps and began trapping beaver and mink etc. He stretched the hides on some stretchers he had made, and sold them. This was a very serious hobby, and seemed quite lucrative at the time. The odors were quite varied, but curious little sister that I was, I often “helped” him stretch the hides. (You will notice the quotes on “helped,” because I’m not so sure that was the case.)
One day, a skunk wandered into my brother’s trap, and he decided that we should skin it, and stretch the fur. I was so proud of his accomplishment, and decided to help all I could, especially when he said he would pay me a dime to help.
Needless to say, there were some very strong reactions to the feat of which we were so proud.
We lost our pride in a hurry, but the skunk smell lingered for days, even after we were forced to bathe and be scrubbed at least 3 times that night.
I was young enough that I proudly told the kids on the bus that we had skinned a skunk. Well, I needn’t have told them, because after all of those scrubbings, there still was no doubt, and we were avoided like a plague.
By the time the odor had disappeared, it took a while to regain my friends.
Well, now that I’m grown, I much prefer the smell of fresh baked bread, homemade donuts, like Mother made when we came home from school, and the lingering odor of a barbeque grill.
Still, God bless the parents of growing children. They surely have to tolerate many things that were not on their schedule, and fortunately for the children, they love them anyway.
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The first few comments of babies seemed out of place and used only for fill. Focus more on the skunk part. Overall, a funny read. :)