Sticks and stones… and scent
Can a perfume shield help my daughter through the playground battlefield?
They say ‘write what you know’, and right now all I know is that my eldest daughter Poppy is having an absolutely shit time at school being picked on by two particularly bitchy girls, and my heart is shattered for her. This morning before leaving the house, she spritzed on her favourite perfume, Acqua di Parma Mandorlo di Sicilia, and I told her to smell her wrists throughout the day to remind herself what an extraordinary, interesting, kind, unique and phenomenal kid she is, and to listen to my words speak to her through the chocolatey-almond scent nuzzled in her skin. I don’t know how to help her (beyond what my husband and I are already doing in terms of resilience-building at home and informing school), but I need to give her un-ranty, non-nagging and easy-to-remember advice - and I do know that scent can be a powerful self-care tool. I just never thought my own daughter would need to use this tool so soon.