What scents bring back memories of childhood
By Modestah
@Modestah (11179)
United States
March 2, 2007 4:08am CST
What things can you smell today that bring a flash from your childhood? maybe not so much a particular memory as a sense or feeling of carefree innocent times, feeling secure, loved etc?
I have three that come to mind right away
1)playdoh
2) bandaides
3) yeast bread/rolls
I guess the playdoh represents hours of creative play and wonderment, the bandaides represent Mother's gentle caresses and concerns over even little boo boos. and the yeast represents the warmth of home, Mother wearing her apron in the kitchen and permitting me just a taste of raw dough...the anticipation of hot buttered fresh homemade bread was sometimes too much to bear.
1 person likes this
7 responses
@sasklily (240)
• Canada
2 Mar 07
I remember fondly the smell of homemade macaroni and cheese baking in the oven, or homemade bread. My mother always waxed her floors with paste wax and I loved that, they were so shiny.
I love the smell of the air after a little rain shower, especially in the Spring when it's removed all the winter accumulation of dust from everything.
@Modestah (11179)
• United States
2 Mar 07
Mac and Cheese (homemade) must be one of those comfort foods, that just seems so cozy. Mother always put tomato slices, cheese, and bread crumbs (or crushed chips) on top, what a smell! oh I so agree about the smell of the air after a cleansing rain. The Ozone scent is very fresh and invigorating.
@crazylady (470)
• United States
4 Mar 07
A certain smell of plastic...when I was given a new baby doll when I was in the hospital when I was 3-4.
Ammonia- Yuck. My mom used to clean the bathroom with ammonia just before we got baths. I hate that smell!
Turkey baking in the oven- My mom made the best Thanksgiving and Christmas meals ever...
@crazylady (470)
• United States
4 Mar 07
oh and there is a special kind of rain in spring- has a metallic smell....brings me back to my childhood when I would stand at the screen door looking out and watching.
1 person likes this
@neon2000 (2756)
• Philippines
3 Mar 07
I can't forget the warmth smell of fresh air in the place where I grew up. The place has become memorable because of so many memorable things it left on my mind.
@defeated (141)
• United States
3 Mar 07
Anything with cinnamon (my granny used it in her cookies alot), fresh baked bread and believe it or not, fresh cut watermelon. Every summer I used to visit my grandpa in Kentucky - and we always sat on the porch eating watermelon. Still remember the watermelon seed spitting contest we used to have too lol.
@myworld_and_you (1223)
• Philippines
2 Mar 07
It always fascinate me if there are topics that can bring back our childhood memories. Good for you that you were able to think right away. It had made me stop and think for couple of minutes. lol. I think mine is kinda different. The scent that would remind me was the smell of a Banana Cue. It's a fried banana that is being hooked on a stick. THat was my favorite food when I was a kiddo. I don't know if you have it there. We have that here in the Philippines. Almost every other day, my Grandma would cook that. But since the day she passed away, I seldom eat banana cues already because the way she cooks is what I'm looking for. She had a different way of doing it and that's the taste that I really wanted. My mom would try to immitate the way she does that but it's kinda funny because no matter what she does, she just can't have the same taste. :)
@Modestah (11179)
• United States
2 Mar 07
I have never heard of banana cues, but, there are certain foods that just thinking of I recall the taste and emotion connected to my childhood. one of these foods is the Fried Plantain bananas my mother used to make when I was a little girl in Panama Canal Zone, maybe it is similar to banana cue? she would slice the plaintans on a diaganol fry them in the pan and salt them, they were somewhat like a chip but not as crisp. the other food I can smell and taste by thinking of it (makes my mouth water) that also brings back memories is the Mango. mmmm, mangos.
@Rudyfan (32)
• United States
13 Mar 07
When I was about 3 I had a sandbox in our backyard that had a lilac bush right next to it. The smell of lilacs always reminds me of living in that house. The little flowers used to fall in my sandbox and I would sometimes pick them and put them in a little Dixie cup or juice glass and take in the house to put in the kitchen window. A few years ago, my son bought me a baby lilac bush to plant in our yard. We have since moved, but the house we are in now also has 3 lilac bushes in the backyard, so I can smell it everytime I come through the yard to the door.
@Modestah (11179)
• United States
13 Mar 07
Oh, lilacs! One of the things I miss most about New York state is all the lilac trees, our first home we lived in when we got married had a lilac tree in the back yard, and the breezes would waft that incredible scent up into my bedroom window - our clothes line was situated close to the lilacs and also were gently perfumed by it. Life was so fresh and clean, when we had a lilac tree.
Thank you for sharing your memory with me, Rudy.
