Is it normal to smell like your parents when you're middle-aged?

3 Comments

I'm 50 years old and the backs of my hands and my forearms now smell like I remember my dad smelling when I was a kid. I find this pretty unsettling because my dad was a rather vicious guy and the smell I'm talking about has serious associations with being hit in the head by my old man when I was small. I also find that I occasionally suddenly shiver very violently for no immediately apparent reason, like my dad used to - and if I sit with my legs crossed at the knee, I'll find myself absent-mindedly swinging one of my legs just like my dad used to when he watched TV.

I know that people joke about "turning into their parents", but they're generally talking about their changing attitudes to everyday life. Do we actually inherit things like leg-swinging, inexplicable shivering and smelling like our parents? Or am I seriously abnormal freak of nature who's subconsciously modelling himself on his old man? And will my whole body eventually end up smelling of Brycreem and Old Spice, even though I don't use them?

Stinking Like Your Parents Is Normal 11
Stinking Like Your Parents Is Weird & Freakish 5
It's All In Your Imagination, You Big Jerk 10
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Comments ( 3 )
  • [Old Memory]
    12 years ago

    Okay. First of all: GROSS.

    Secondly, I read an article a couple years ago about "old people smell."

    In it, it explained that every culture acknowledges the presence of "old people smell" in their society. From China to America, Australia to Africa. They further explained that it was caused by skin decay and tissue dying at a faster rate with the elderly (due to an increasing poor circulation). It's just another fact of aging. It can be helped with some mild exfoliating once or twice a week. I used to work in nursing, before I changed careers, at an old age home. The smell is WAY more noticeable with the older folks that don't bathe regularly. Also, since poor circulation is a key factor here, it might help to get a little exercise to keep your blood flowing properly to all of your body.

    As for inheriting your parent's mannerisms, that's probably true to some extent. My dad was also a bad dude and used to yell through his teeth a certain unsettling way. I've found myself getting frustrated and doing the same thing as an adult. I've also gotten many of my mum's annoying traits too. Your leg thing is probably normal.

    What's NOT normal, is obsessing about it. It sounds pretty harmless.

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  • anti-hero
    12 years ago

    Hey I am only 25 and I smell like my dad, Whiskey, Cigarettes, and Cheap women.

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  • myownopinions
    12 years ago

    Let's face it, some traits and habits come from our parents and there are ways to get rid of the smell you have. The thing is that you shouldn't worry about it, it's not like we "become" our parents.

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