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Bathtime Ritual
by admin ·
Bathtime is a vital part of our evening ritual. For both my kids, time in the tub signals the end of the day, and they know the pouring and splashing and washing and rinsing will soon give way to pajamas, storytime, and lights out.
Now that my kids are older, I wash them together every night. This works nicely for me because they like to play together in the tub, and I find I’ll bring a magazine, book, or my diary for next day to keep me occupied as I sit nearby to supervise the bathtime play. While this does offer some much-needed wind-down time for me, it occurred to me some weeks ago that washing the kids could also provide me with just some minutes to be mindful in my end-of-the-day connection with my children.
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What does a bathtime ritual involve? Here are three ideas to get you moving :
One. Prayer
As I bathe each of them, say a prayer or something actually positive and encouraging to your youngsters, follow with gratitude expressing your sheer thanks for something you have done that day and finish with confirmation, reconfirming all that is great in the world, but particularly in your circle of relatives. I would say a straightforward prayer like, many thanks, God, for these sweet little feet. May they carry her to exciting places to do life-changing things someday, or What a blessing this corpulent darlings are to me. May their smiles be a support to everyone they encounter.
Even if you are not a player in organized religion, you may think about ways to speak positive thoughts over your children as you spend a few aware minutes bathing them.
Two. Gratitude
Whether your youngster is 6 weeks or six years old, I think it is vital to model gratitude. You might say something like, I’m so thankful we got to go to the library today! We have so many new books to read! or I’m so thankful for the visit from grandmother and granddad. They adore you so much.
As your kids grow older, inspire them to supply their own words of gratitude and appreciate for the day. The things my 4 year old comes up with to be grateful for always bring a smile to me.
Three. Affirmation
This is very important to me at the end of the of a day that has been stuffed with more tears than laughs and more correction than encouragement. My oldest girl when thru a phase where 100 was absolutely the largest thing she could imagine, so I might say something similar to, You know, I love you ONE HUNDRED! Or I would tell my baby, Even if you marked on each wall in each house on every street, I might still love you so awfully, terribly much. Sometimes we get stupid and say stuff like, I’d love you even if your elbows looked like your knees and you had horsey breath! and If your hair looked like a rainbow and your nose looked like a blueberry, you’d be my most favorite rainbow-haired, blueberry-nosed person in the full world!
Now certainly, there are evenings when I actually do just lose myself in the glossy, completely put-together pages of Home & Living or enjoy a few precious minutes with paper and pen and nobody making an attempt to grab them from my hands. And yet some evenings, it actually works for me to turn the time spent kneeling beside the tub into an aware, conscious, reflective celebration of my children and our day.
