Living the dream

No, maybe not the roses round the door type dream. I just liked the picture. The dream I’m thinking of is a lot less high end. I’m talking plumbing here. Who would have thought such a basic thing as a bathroom could be a dream come true? Maybe I’m getting a bit carried away, but I’m still in the first flush (see what I did there?) of enjoyment of a new bathroom.

 After a gruelling two weeks of bucket-flushing at night, a man working in the bathroom all day, washing at the kitchen sink and sticking my head under the kitchen tap to wash my hair, plus the awful prospect of having to wee in a bucket in the garage if needs must (it didn’t as it turned out), at last we have a beautiful fully functional bathroom. The pleasure I get from being able to step into a shower seems out of all proportion.

I guess it’s going without it for two whole weeks that heightens the appreciation. It brought it home to me that this is what my Mum grew up with. She never knew anything different as a child. The family of eight had no bathroom. Just a cold tap in the kitchen, an outside toilet and a tin bath hanging up in the yard. My guess is that the tin bath didn’t get to come indoors very often. Imagine trying to have a strip wash at the kitchen sink  while your older brothers keep rattling the door handle, making out they are going to come in. 

I have taken indoor plumbing totally for granted, I see that now! Not any more though. I use the new shower, washbasin and loo with an appreciation that verges on well-practised mindfulness.

This is where the dream bit comes in…

Many years ago when Saggy and I still had our little ones around us, we listened in awed silence to a 60-something friend telling us how she woke every morning to her new day with a leisurely stretch and yawn, had her cuppa and took a relaxed shower. Taking her time to get ready for the day. No demanding toddlers, no kids to get off to school, no teenagers to dig out of bed. Saggy and I looked at each other. Just imagine that! What a dream that would be…

I remember that feeling now every time I step into the shower. This is that dream, I think to myself. It’s my turn for the leisurely morning start, and in some small way it helps to ease the ache of the empty nest. Ok, the dog needs to be taken for a walk, but at least I don’t have to get him ready for school.

So many dreams never come true, and quite frankly that’s not always a bad thing. But I like to enjoy the ones that do, even if its just a laid-back start to the day.