What is it with school supplies? There is such a wonderful smell to
them. It’s right up there with that
first day in fall when there is a crisp feel in the air and everything seems
suddenly refreshed.
There are certain smells that send me right back to the
halls of Medlock Elementary school. If I
could find a cardboard school box, I would put in a box of eight crayons, 2 sharpened
pencils, a bottle of Elmer’s glue, a pair of safety scissors, a pink eraser,
and a ruler. Then I would put in on my
desk at home and from time to time close my eyes, open the lid, and sniff. Oh sweet childhood—it’s good to smell you
again!
Interestingly the smell of Pine-Sol has the same effect
because the janitor at our elementary school was all about those black and
white tiled floors being perfectly shiny, spotless, and clean.
Blend in the smell of a good cooked lunch with a Pine-Sol
floor and you have our school cafeteria.
The janitor loved that white speckled tile in the cafeteria to be
equally shiny, spotless, and clean. The
food was amazing in the cafeteria. Maybe
because it was the 70s, and food was still “real” and not so processed. There weren’t a million choices. You either ate what they had for the meal
that day or you brought your lunch. But
the odds were good that the lunch was something your Grandma would have made
you if you were at her house for lunch.
I remember some excellent lunches in elementary school—and I was proud
to have my name on the clean plate club!
Of course when my mom bought me the coolest Snoopy doghouse
lunchbox it was hard to decide between the delicious, school meal or the baloney with
mayonnaise sandwich on white bread and Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pie packed
inside of Snoopy’s house! How can you
expect an 8 year old to make that kind of life decision? That lunch box was AWESOME!
…. Just paused in my typing long enough to look on EBay.
And may I just say, what can’t you find on EBay? Now I will have to bid on this and pack
a baloney with mayo on white bread sandwich with a Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream
pie and put it on my desk next to the school box with the awesome smelling
crayons and freshly sharpened pencils.
Honestly, I’m in 4th grade again and loving it!!
And what about you?
What smells take you right back to your school days? Hoping and praying that those memories are
sweet for you and that you can find a memorable smell that takes you back
today!
