The Bath

Earlier in the week Owen pointed out to me that I had never used the bath crystals he had given to me for Mother’s Day.  They made them or packaged them or whatever in school and he was very proud of them.  He began quizzing me on when I would use them.  I told him I was really busy at work things on Saturday and again on Sunday morning but then I would use them.  So he began planning my bath.  He wanted to know if I would take it as soon as I got home on Sunday or later in the day.  I said maybe later in the day.  So yesterday around 5:00 he pointed out to me that it was time for my bath.  I agreed so we headed into the bathroom.  I bent down to start the tub and he said, “oh no Mom, I’ve got this” and proceeded to wash the tub out and rinse it, get towels, including one to tuck behind my head, arranged soap and brush (he told me these were for uncharted parts….I just said, “uh, o.k.”), folded a facecloth.  Then he got a big plastic bag to put my kindle inside and showed me how I could push the buttons through the plastic.  He stood back and looked at everything and then asked if I would like candles.  I said it was probably bright enough so he turned the light off and looked at me hopefully.  I said candles would be lovely.  He lit a little votive candle for each corner of the bath.  Then he cautioned me about getting the towel behind my neck into the flames.  He told me if it caught on fire just to put it under the water and then he would come run me another bath.  Then he confided that he hoped he would be a good ladies man when he grew up.  I told him I had NO doubts.  Then he amended it to “well, I hope I am a good husband.”  Again, I assured him he would be.  I asked him to get my iPod so I could hopefully block out a little of the Lego playing sounds from the next room.  He set it down and asked me if it was on a playlist because he didn’t want me to have to get up to change songs.  I assured him it was fine.  Then he paused and thought and raced to the kitchen.  He brought back a little bowl of pistachios and set it on the floor by the tub in case I needed a snack.  Then he ran the hot water, added the bath crystals and carefully stirred it all up.  He assured me that if I felt something on the bottom it would just be a bath crystal and not a bug.  Then he just kept patting me on the shoulder and saying, “just have fun and relax, o.k. Mom?”  I kissed him and told him I would.

I got in the tub and just lay there smiling and almost wanting to cry.  At one point he yelled through the door that there were some notes for me and to look for them when I got out.  I stayed in as long as I could because I didn’t want him to think I didn’t like it.  When the water got TOO cold though I got out.  When I emerged from the bathroom Dema was there to direct me to the notes.  There was one on the dining room table pointing to the coffee table in the living room.  That one told me I was going upstairs.  Dema helpfully escorted me upstairs to the next note and then to the end of the hall where Owen stood proudly.  He pointed me in to my bedside lamp, which had a note pointing to the drawer in my bedside table.  When I opened that there was a note explaining that the rest of the bath crystals were in a bag with holes in it in my drawer and whenever I wanted the room to smell nice I just had to open the drawer.

I thanked Dema for the directions and hugged him and then I hugged and kissed Owen and told him there were no words for how wonderful he was.  I went and sat down next to Ernie and he asked me how the bath was.  I told him truthfully that it was the best bath I'd ever had in my life.

The rest of the weekend was good but very busy....but honestly.....it all pales in comparison to the bath.....