She Smells...?

Question

Okay so my mom smells really bad!!! I hardly ever see her shower and she wears the same clothes days in a row, not to mention she is over weight. Well i feel really bad for her and i wanted to let her know she smells horribly bad but in the nicest way possible. I think she may be so used to the smell and doesnt know its her... Seriously god only knows how someone couldnt know they smelled that bad! Please help me cause im so tired of wearing clothes pins on my nose.

Answer 1

jus give her a necklace of car freshers, problem solved

Answer 2

If I was your Mom, and I had a problem with the way I smelled, I would want to be told about it. A big reason that people don't shower/bathe/change clothes is because they are depressed. Has something gone on in her life lately that could make her sad? Or does she have a diagnosis of depression and take medication for it? Maybe she needs to see her counselor if thats' the case. I had to tell a loved one recently that she had an odor problem and that she should shower daily and change clothes daily. I would take her aside, sit down with her, put your arm around her shoulder and just as gently as possibly say something like "Mom, you know how much I love you, but you really need to think about taking a shower and changing clothes every day". If I knew how old your Mom was it would make a difference. Thats' really all you can do. Leaving out a fresh bar of soap won't get the message across. All the best

Answer 3

I have to agree with most of the answers here. Buy her some nice smelling toiletries, nice scented bubble bath, perfume, deodorant, soap (you can buy some nice little baskets in Boots), then buy a couple of candles. Or if you can't afford all these toiletries, buy some really nice smelling bubble bath, and a couple of candles, maybe some face packs too.

Run the bath for her, put the bubble bath in and light the candles which will make the bathroom look inviting, put clean towels out and the face packs out on the towels. Tell her she needs pampering and to be spoiled for a change then tell her you have run a bath for her, ask her to have a look. If that doesn't work then I don't know what you can do.

About your mum not knowing she smells, it is possible that she has no sense or even a poor sense, of smell.

I wish you all the best.

Answer 4

Take her out shopping and into Bath & Body Works. Have her smell the most wonderful smelling soap in the world *I'd give her Sweet Pea*, make sure she loves it, and then buy it for her. Get her excited about using it. After she uses it, tell her how amazing something smells and drop hints that it's HER. She'll be so pleased that she'll want to shower all the time. And for the clothes, maybe you could buy her some new cute clothes while you're out shopping, but make sure she likes them. Next stop? Going for a jog.

Answer 5

Your mom may be depressed. That is one of the signs, when a person does not care about their hygiene. Ask her what is going on with her, because you note that she wears the same clothes days in a row. Ask her is there anything that you can do to help, and if she does tell you, you have to be there for her.
She may need counseling.
Are you close, if you are, tell her that you are concerned and because you love her you would not want her to be embarrassed by her appearance and body odor. Just tell her, maybe she is not aware.

Answer 6

aww you poor thing. It's crazy that I stumbled upon your question because I had to face the same situation once. I simply pulled my mother aside when no one else was around and I explained to her that she had an odor. She was hurt at first you could tell. I just said " Mom it's normal for a woman to be not so fresh all of the time" I told her not to feel bad and that I have gone through it too. Not really but I had to say something like that to keep from crushing her. Tell her that it will be okay and then offer to buy her some feminine products to help correct the situation. When you haven't seen her shower in a few days, just tell her "Mom you know I love you so much and it hurts me to say this but you have got to take better care of your hygein and stay healthy for us." She has to know that you love her because it sounds like a self esteem issue. My Mother suffers from that as well. Good luck sweetie.

Answer 7

She must be under a lot of stress, raising a pinhead like you! (just kidding!) You are a great person for thinking of her!

Just tell here that your hygiene standards have improved from your schoolwork knowledge, and you can help her to seem 'fresh' and you really need to give her a big hug, and cheer her up!

If nothing works, then it is a sad thing to say, but she is probably a bit depressed. It might be the right thing to suggest she get a check up, even if she does say "I'm healthy as a horse", we know that's a lie!

Best wishes to you, and to your marvelous mother! God Bless her!

Answer 8

OK - treat her to a night out with a whole new outfit etc.

This way, you get her to enjoy the experience of bathing, putting on really fresh new clothes etc with a reward at the end of it - you taking her out to dinner for example.

Compliment her like hell while she is in the clean garb and tell her how much you like how she is that evening.

Oh yeah - while she is bathing - get her funky stinky clothes she was wearing in the laundry so she can't put it straight back on the next day.

Good luck- it's a difficult one.

Answer 9

What kind of child are you, how can you say those things about your mum, the one that gave birth to you and brought you up, If the case is true then tell her in a nice way to change her clothes and bathe, she might be depressed, and needs help your help you are her child after all. You will know what a silly fool you really sound when you have kids of your own.

Answer 10

My ex's Granny used to say "a monkey can't smell it's own smell." Although, not comparing your mum to a monkey, I think people can become oblivious to their hygiene.

I would be a little concerned that this is a sign of a mild depression, as lack of care of yourself is an indicator. She needs to love herself again.

I generally recommend subtley in approaches, but I wonder whether you can sit your mum down and have a real chat about things and try to get to the root cause. Don't forget you love your mum and don't want others to make nasty comments about her. So any constructive criticism you can give her is all help.

Good luck.

Answer 11

Sounds like your mum may be a little depressed!!

Are you helping around the house?

Run mum a nice bubble bath and get her a change of clothes, this will make her feel better and might kick start her into action again, especially if you tell her she smells nice when she`s bathed.