A friend and I were talking when I started complaining about how hard it is for me to wind down at night.

“I bet a nightly bath will cure you of that.”

“A nightly bath? How do you even have time for that?”

For you see, I was envisioning those movie bubble baths -- the ones with candles, rose petals, champagne, and chocolate-dipped strawberries -- how on earth would I ever find the time to do all that after a full day of, you know, LIFE? (FYI - my life involves wrangling three boys under seven and changing a lot of diapers. Not exactly conducive to nightly champagne.)

My friend just shrugged. “I run the bath while I brush my teeth and get ready for bed. Then I pour whatever soap I have, get in and ten minutes later I’m out. It’s not a big deal. I get to relax and read for a bit.”

Now, I had to admit that seemed really easy. But there was one tiny, yet insurmountable problem: I need a morning shower to function.

“That sounds great, but I need to shower in the morning or I’m a zombie all day.”

“Who says I don’t take a morning shower?”

Guys, it was like a new world had opened up for me. Why not take a bath that night? Why make a big deal out of it?

So that night, I ran a bath. I pumped a bit of shower gel into the water, anything works, really -- and got in. I rolled a towel behind my head and dug into a two month-old issue of Vanity Fair, something I hadn’t done in, well, two months.

It was nice. Very nice.

Eventually, I put down my magazine, closed my eyes and just relaxed.

It was heaven.

At the end of my bathI emerged from the bathroom, all of fifteen minutes later, as refreshed as if I’d spent two hours at a spa. And I had done all that at home, after putting the kids to bed and washing the dinner dishes. That night I slept like an angel, and the next morning I took the quickest, most refreshing shower known to man.

I’m a convert. Ladies, if you’re feeling stressed you NEED to do this for yourself. Run a bit of water and just soak for a bit. No fancy bath salts or accessories needed. (But they can't hurt.)

Don't let the kids have all the fun.

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