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.

All of fifteen minutes later I emerged from my bath 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.

&nbsp;