Dreading visit from smelly ILs

[Anonymous]

This requires many levels of action:

1. Douse a scarf in perfume, or better yet an essential oil, and wear that around your neck the whole time as an accessory. I "play" (sniff) with my scarf when I smell something gross.

2. Get a powerful plug-in airfreshener.

3. Spray Febreeze frequently (after they've left the room).

4. Boil some fragrant foods like lemon or apples/spices periodically.

5. Leave a scented body wash in the shower for them to use.

6. Gift them perfume/cologne.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You had better all be from the same ethnic and cultural background for you to be writing this, OP. If not, have the sense to have Jeff delete this thread.

+ 1

Huh?

Yeah, i don't get it either.

You really are so dense that you don't get how deeply offensive it would be if OP were a white woman commenting on "the smell" of her black, or Indian, or Mexican American ILs? Or if OP were an Indian woman commenting on "the smell" of her white or Japanese ILs?

If they smell, they smell. Why would you ignore that just because of somebody's ethnicity?

Because what she's smelling may be the spices they use in their food that are simply unfamiliar to her, not unhygienic.

Now it's my turn to ask if you're dense. Do you think that clouds of curry fumes follow south asians around wherever they go? Do you think the OP is too unintelligent to discern cooking odors from something that is foul smelling? Or are you so hung up on viewing every little thing through the lens of race that you can't think rationally?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. These aren't food spices -- not even close. It's not mold or mildew. It's like a bad breath, rotting teeth smell -- I'm still not getting the description completely right. It's overpowering though. The last time MIL was in town I picked her up from the airport and the minute she got in my car, the smell hit me like a ton of bricks. I immediately thought how terrible it must have been for the passenger sitting next to her on her flight.

I wish there was an easy way to tell the ILs, but there isn't. DH isn't going to do it because he won't want to hurt them (he has no siblings), and me doing it just doesn't feel like the right answer. Oh well. I will just have to keep sucking it up like I've been doing for the past several years.

It sounds like BO caused by personal hygiene or health issues. Maybe your husband should talk to them because the smell could be an indication of a much more serious issue.

[Anonymous]

OP, do your in laws own one or more cats? I ask because I was raised with cats, and I know a house with cats has a certain smell. It was only after I moved out and lived on my own as an adult that I recognized how bad that smell was.

My mom has not had a cat in at least 15 years and only now is her house beginning to smell somewhat normal. The smell was on her, her clothing, her car, everything. I actually like cats, but I would never own one. This was the first thought that came to my mind: cat owners.

[Anonymous]

Mom, I think you mistakenly sat in something that smells.
I don't want to offend but I notice a little odor
Are you ok, I smell something and I don't usually.
Do you use soap?
We love this detergent let me wash your clothes and show you how good it smells, want to jump in too?
Hey try this great shower gel I got for my birthday.
Look Bart, you tell her or I do.
Need me to scrub your back( pits and a**)???
You know Bart has an unsusal smell, think it's hereditary ??
Wow, I smell something , wonder what it is, OH, It's YOU!!!!
Help yourself to our hot water !
No one wants to hear this , but better than hearing it from a stranger....
I used to have a part
Medical problem , my doctor prescribed soap, want her number?
Bloop!Bloop! Til the water's brown !!
I followed my nose ... and it led me back to you!
The nose Knows
Everyone for a fresh butt, raise your hand!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, do your in laws own one or more cats? I ask because I was raised with cats, and I know a house with cats has a certain smell. It was only after I moved out and lived on my own as an adult that I recognized how bad that smell was.

My mom has not had a cat in at least 15 years and only now is her house beginning to smell somewhat normal. The smell was on her, her clothing, her car, everything. I actually like cats, but I would never own one. This was the first thought that came to my mind: cat owners.

It's not cats, it's cat urine, it is forever if you do not know how to get rid of it. Detergent won't do it. And some things you will just have to throw away.
And if it got in the carpet or hardwoods.
God be with them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Put scented hand cream on the back of your hand. Smell as needed.

Hah!
I use a similar trick when I have to ride metro or bus to work.
I can't stand all the bad breath, unbrushed teeth breath, alcohol breath, fish, broccoli, curry, bbq, cooked egg, banana, flavored yogurt, pee and unwashed bottom smells that people from ALL ethnic groups carry around with them.

[Anonymous]

I'll trade you, my MIL stinks of bad BO, all the time. Everything she sits on smells. She is also a selfish, racist narcissist.

[Anonymous]

Smear a little Vicks under your nose, like they do during autopsies. You'll be all set.

[Anonymous]

Body odor can remain in clothing after washing and even a clean person will stink when wearing the item.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Body odor can remain in clothing after washing and even a clean person will stink when wearing the item.

Exactly!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Smear a little Vicks under your nose, like they do during autopsies. You'll be all set.

Smear a little Vicks on them!!

[Anonymous]

I have a sensitive sense of smell and I suspect this situation may be a combination of your hypersensitivity and your IL’s signature scent. Each house and family has a certain smell, I have noticed. I can smell my friends and relatives when they come to my house, although none of them are displeasing.

Do you smell people other than your ILs, OP?

Your pregnancy is the ideal excuse to mention this to your MIL. You won’t have another chance like this, so please grab it.

[Anonymous]

I believe you, OP. There is a certain "old person" / "sick person" smell that I can instantly recognize and I have to leave the area or else it really makes me feel like I am going to gag. I had not smelled it in years, until my daughter and I were in a restaurant and a gentleman came in with a caretaker and sat in a booth behind us, and INSTANTLY, my head snapped back and memory instantly flooded into my brain of visiting an older family member in her apartment with the rest of my family, and it was always soo hot, and the whole apartment had this smell! It is sort of like powder mixed with . . .unclean or sickly fleshy skin folds.. .? I don't know. It makes me so unhappy to even try to describe it. I can smell it in my brain but cannot describe it.

I don't know what advice to give. I just wanted to let you know I commiserate, and I hope you can find a resolution. As they do sound like lovely people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You had better all be from the same ethnic and cultural background for you to be writing this, OP. If not, have the sense to have Jeff delete this thread.

+ 1

Huh?

Yeah, i don't get it either.

You really are so dense that you don't get how deeply offensive it would be if OP were a white woman commenting on "the smell" of her black, or Indian, or Mexican American ILs? Or if OP were an Indian woman commenting on "the smell" of her white or Japanese ILs?

If they smell, they smell. Why would you ignore that just because of somebody's ethnicity?

Because what she's smelling may be the spices they use in their food that are simply unfamiliar to her, not unhygienic.

Now it's my turn to ask if you're dense. Do you think that clouds of curry fumes follow south asians around wherever they go? Do you think the OP is too unintelligent to discern cooking odors from something that is foul smelling? Or are you so hung up on viewing every little thing through the lens of race that you can't think rationally?

You're an idiot.