There are a lot of tedious parenting tasks. Bath time is one of them for me; it’s just not my favorite. But my son loves the water, so I feel like I should at least give him enough time to enjoy it. During that time, there are a good 10 to 15 minutes where I’m just watching him so he doesn’t stand up or fall over. I have to stay in the bathroom obviously so there isn’t much I can get done. I usually scroll through Instagram for the fourteen thousandth time that day. But then last night, while I was filling up the tub and my husband was stripping down the babes in the other room, it hit me — my skin could be microdermabrasing. A mask could be seeping in and working its magic as my child splashes half his water onto my clothes. The bottle was sitting right there in that drawer. I quickly slathered on the delicious-smelling green goo as my husband plopped my son in the tub. Voila, I was getting some very satisfying self-care during one of my least favorite parenting routines. I could have still been Insta-scrolling while the mask did its thing, but I had momentum now because what else could I get done while also keeping one eye on the tub? I probably had another 8.5 minutes until I needed to start actually washing my child. Working out was the last thing in the world I felt like doing on a Wednesday evening. But doing 15 standing squats would hardly make me break a sweat. I could commit to that. So I counted out the reps, and it was feeling pretty good. It was actually giving me a little boost. Leo looked over and laughed at me because I was bobbing up and down like a lunatic (with a green face), so I put a little more gusto into it to make him laugh harder. His laughter peaked when I hit 17 so I couldn’t stop then — he was having a blast. I was working out. And it was bath time.
Maybe you’re not looking to add any more physical activity to your day. Or face masks aren’t your thing. I’ve found bath time to also be an excellent window of opportunity to: organize the week’s photos on my phone (if I didn’t delete 75% of the videos I take of my son doing mundane things, I’d need a new phone with more storage), shoutout to friends I haven’t had time to connect with, update my grocery list, or read a guilty pleasure article I wouldn’t otherwise make time for. All arguably more productive choices than scrolling through other people’s lives.
And maybe bath time just isn’t your issue. Maybe that’s Dad’s job. Maybe you love to engage with your kids throughout the entire process. Or maybe you simply don’t bathe your child (not judging…). The multitasking trick works in a lot of places. I’m usually a cranky witch-with-a-b in the morning. I’ve started playing nostalgic albums from high school during the breakfast routine, and it’s a game changer. First of all, I can’t not smile after doing AJ’s rap in Get Down. It’s impossible. And my son can’t not laugh at the idiotic dance moves I pull when I play Vengaboys. And when he’s laughing, I am incapable of being cranky.
This is all simple stuff. I’m sure there are so many examples of this in my mom community and I want to hear all of them for inspiration (I really encourage you to comment with your tips and hacks at the bottom of this page). Mainly, I just want to give myself tricks to enjoy the humdrum tasks more. When I get in a shitty mood, it’s really hard for me to snap out of it. I tend to let resentments build. And when I’m in the resentment zone, something I would normally let slide is amplified. Suddenly Leo’s thirty seconds of whining isn’t tolerable, when on any other morning I’d be laughing through it, reminding him that muffins don’t go in your nose they go in your mouth. I don’t want to miss out on precious moments because of my own shitty moods. I want to put myself in positions where I’m exposed to receiving the surprises that only come when you’re open and vibrant and excited, not when you’re in your own cloud of misery.
So back to the bath last night — I’d passed my 15 squats because Leo was laughing maniacally at me, and I continued up to 30. My lungs were asking me to cut it out so I gave it a rest. My heart was beating fast and my thighs had this fun little burn going. I was really getting into it there. A jolt of energy surged through me and I was convinced I couldn’t possibly leave it at that. So I did three more sets of 30, really struggling through the last two but feeling so motivated to get this little impromptu leg workout done. Who knew I’d be logging any kind of physical activity for the day? My face was starting to feel really tight and I wondered if it was the squats? I caught myself in the mirror and was just delighted at the reminder that my skin was getting baby soft as my thighs were getting rock hard (OK slight exaggeration). And this was all during bath time. It was the best 8.5 minutes of my day. Tonight I might add a little jump to it.
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This post was previously published on Medium.
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You may also like these posts on The Good Men Project:
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 Escape the “Act Like a Man” Box |
 The Lack of Gentle Platonic Touch in Men’s Lives is a Killer |
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Photo credit: insung yoon on Unsplash
