Since lockdown1 my bath habit is getting out of hand. Both frequency & length of bath visits have increased steadily, firmly replacing the sofa as my favourite place to hang out.

The paraphenalia associated with each visit has become increasingly more complex & nuanced. It started off with just a sprinkle of Epsom bath salt. Then with the addition of a few drops of bath oil. Now I need a candle & a staggering array of bath condiments & bubbles that I use in rotation. My need for extra bath accompaniments is insatiable. 

Baths are no longer just an evening wind down activity. Or a nod to self care. They have become a basic need. 

They can be squeezed into lunch breaks. They can be plunged into after a tricky meetings or a challenging kid’s bedtime. They can be languished in while my children are let loose on screens. They can be used like a micronap to reset my brain & refresh me ready for productivity. 

I’ve even started to use baths for dining. Once something I’d have dismissed as a slovenly lifestyle choice, I now relish the bath time snack & see it as both indulgent & efficient. 

Baths signal to my kids that mummy is taking some down time. They (for the most part) have come to respect this, seeing it as another necessary charging up of a device that will otherwise just crash unpredictably. 

In weekends, my daughter joins me & we can pass glorious hours chatting, with our feet nestled into eachother’s armpits. Each boasting how much hot water we can tolerate before morphing into a paralysed gecko state. 

I can thank baths for expanding my mind. While lying in fragrant, bubbly water I seem to be able to soak up knowledge like a sponge in contrast to my busy, distracted monkey mind that I default to outside of the bathroom. 

And when I’m not inhaling audiobooks or podcasts, baths enable me to simply be. This is the Mecca of the hot bath experience. The warmth, the full body immersion in water, the comforting smells: the womb like conditions trick my brain into finally slowing down. For just a few blissful moments, my mind is still. 

As a solo parent in lockdown I salute the humble bath for being my sanctuary & sanity restorer.