As the mother of four boys, including one that just turned 14, one that will soon be 12 and a set of six-year-old twins, I would like to give Fabreeze my official stamp of approval.

Personally, I have never been much of a fan of air fresheners.  I guess I am a bit overly sensitive to smells, which means I generally don’t wear perfume and I usually don’t want my husband to wear anything more than his deodorant.  So, it has always been my policy to pretty much just grin and bear it when it came to the terrible odors that my children sometimes emit.

And, let me tell you, the smells can be terrible and they are quite varied.

One of my boys has an issue with bedwetting, which has always been a problem when it comes to combating the smells.  The twins also had problems with constipation, which resulted in them occasionally laying “bombs” (as Jason would say) in their underwear until recently.  With the oldest being a teenager, his body has started to create some new and interesting smells as well.  In addition, we live on 15 acres of land and we all tend to work and play hard outside.  This, of course, occasionally results in some strange outdoor odors.

One of the most recent smells to come across my nose from my kids is the “shoes that smell like dirty dishrags.”  This one was created when my two oldest boys, who both play football, had to play their games for three hours in a torrential downpour.  Yes, I stood out there and watched the games without an umbrella, but that is an entirely different story.  My boys, on the other hand, had to walk on the field in their school shoes and then change into their cleats so the spikes on their cleats wouldn’t dig into the track that circled around the field.  Consequently, their shoes were drenched by the downpour throughout the entire game and, when they were put on the next day without being properly dried first, the smell was enough to take my breath away.

Enter Fabreeze.  I have a had a great deal of success with this handy little product.  The mattress that was urinated upon, the hamper that held the poopy underwear and even the shoes that were trying to turn to mildew have all been saved with the help of Fabreeze.  In addition, the smell isn’t so strong and overbearing that I can’t stand being in the same room after it is sprayed (which is something I can’t say for most other air fresheners).  Could I live without Fabreeze?  Sure, but my world would certainly be a whole lot smellier!