How Bath Time Has Become My Most Cherished Bonding Time With My Son

Some of my favorite moments happen around 6 p.m. when my son, Quest, and I head to my once-pristine bathtub for bubbles and bonding. Our bathroom has stickers of sea creatures covering the walls of the tub while toys of all shapes and sizes float on the surface. Moments of getting clean have become our sweet ritual where we sing songs together (I'm essentially his on-demand playlist) and I say loving affirmations to him as he gets his scrub-a-dub on.

These bath time memories have become so sweet that it’s hard to believe I was terrified of bathing him when I first brought him home. So tiny, so fragile, germs everywhere — I just knew I was going to do it wrong. When you’re a new mom, even the smallest of things can make you second guess yourself. Thankfully, I've grown out of that irrational fear of bubbly water, but now that Quest is 1, I've started worrying that my work schedule will be what he remembers more than our time spent together.

Our nightly rituals and these precious moments are our version of self-care.

I’m a working mom with a small business. My business started taking off right as my son was coming into the world, which has felt like the biggest blessing and also the most fearsome curse. Is he getting enough time with me? Will he feel deeply loved? Am I being selfish? These thoughts run a dance through my mind daily. Once I talk myself down from this internal dialogue and center my perspective, I do know that I can stand in the fullness of my destiny and be a great mom and role model to my baby boy. The truth is, I am doing my best and that’s enough; but to make sure I get in on this whole “work-life balance” thing, I've had to readjust my life to have more boundaries. The most important things on my list? Creating moments for quality time and cleanliness.

Enter bath time. 6 p.m. is now the time when I give my “hard no” to the world. If it can’t happen before bath time, then it will wait until tomorrow. Non-negotiable.

I never imagined my bathroom would become such a sacred place, but it is! Bath time (AKA mommy and Quest time) is filled with loud giggles, funny faces and songs, sometimes a few shampoo tears, and lots and lots of love. Our nightly rituals and these precious moments are our version of self-care.

Another non-negotiable in the equation? I refuse to waste time worrying if my family's space is clean or not. As fun as splish-splash time is, any mom will tell you that things can get prettyyy messy in the bathroom. Diapers flying, dirty clothes all over the floor, murky water left behind in the tub after a long day of playing… yeah, I have my hands full. That’s why I always keep a bottle of Clorox® Clean-Up® Cleaner + Bleach in my bathroom (and in my kitchen, to be honest). I always want my home to be my family’s germ-free safe haven. I want to keep that sacred space and that sea creature covered tub clean and free from drama.

I feel grateful for the moments when all of these priorities seem to come together. The moments I get to shower my sweetest boy with love, attention, and present-moment awareness. The moments where keeping the house clean and safe for him don’t feel like another full-time job. Setting boundaries, joyfully playing, trusting my best effort, and relying on a brand I trust to help me seamlessly do what needs to be done — this is what’s important for me and my family. My pristine tub was once featured in a magazine spread, and now it’s filled with toys, stickers and bubbles, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

This post is sponsored by Clorox.