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As a mother, I find it essential that I get a bit of ‘me-time’. Caring for three kids is enough work in itself, without factoring in all the housework, all the house admin and working from home too. I’m busy most of the time and rare evenings of relaxation are often lusted after. I have to prepare for evenings off, often buying a couple of bottles of wine from Independent Wine (they do next day delivery). I even stock up on fancy toiletries and peruse takeaway menus in anticipation.
My Perfect Summer’s Evening
Occasionally, the stars align and I get an opportunity for the perfect evening in. The kids go to bed early, the housework is done, all I need to do is eat, drink and be merry! Below is how those evenings go down, and everything I need to help make them that little bit more special.
A Bath Bomb is Essential
My perfect evening would begin with a relaxing bath. This bath would be pure extravagance and not the sort of rushed washing I’m used to as a mum. Ideally I’d like my husband to put the kids to bed while I bathe, so that when I’m done I don’t have to do any parental chores. This is unlikely to happen because in our house, bedtime is a two-man job (for the foreseeable future, at least!)
Once I’ve spend some time reading the the bath, I would head down stairs for a further relaxing time!
Good Food and Drink is Top of the Agenda!
If I’m trying to have a relaxing evening and spend some quality time with my husband, we try not to cook. This sometimes means setting the slow cooker up – preparing for something tasty, hours before. In summer, it usually means ordering a takeaway, because it’s a bit warm to be eating soups and stews!
On warm evenings I love to have a glass of red wine outside. This Montecillo Rioja Crianza 2016 has been a favourite of late. Red wine is my favourite and this one is lovely and smooth. It’s fruity and has strong hints of blackberries. It’s a great wine for anyone who likes a red but isn’t so knowledgeable about wine in general. That basically describes me, so I have to look up things like pairing types of wine to certain dishes.
When it gets cool out, I like to head back inside.
Watching Something Good is Next on the Agenda
When the dinner plates have been cleared away and the wine is happily flowing, it reaches a point in the night where I want to watch a bit of decent TV. By decent, I mean aimed at adults. A large portion of my TV viewing is cartoons aimed at little boys who love action, or drama shows created to entertain pre-teen girls. The grown-up shows we like tend to have too much swearing to have on around the kids. We’ve recently enjoyed watching Space Force on Netflix. It’s not too sweary, but if we tried to watch it when the kids were up, I doubt we’d hear a word!
After a few episodes of whatever box set we’re into, I’ll usually have to go to bed. What’s the point of trying to wind down if it doesn’t end in a good night’s sleep? Of course, the key to the best sleep is fresh sheets, so I’d change the sheets before bed and spritz a little lavender pillow spray to help me drift off.
How do you plan your relaxing evenings?