Bedtime Rituals
We have little rituals we follow at bedtime.
There is a bit of pacing about, picking up the detritus of the day after/while/before putting on pajamas. There is a wandering from room to room, where I turn on lights looking for something and he turns off lights trying to “shut down the house.”
I take my meds.
I get in bed.
And after I’m settled (which can take a couple minutes or a couple hours, depending on how wound up I am or how ‘into’ the book I’m currently reading I am or how many emails I’m still trying to answer via my phone app before the day is done), there usually commences a good deal of yawning.
Followed by, “Smotch-eeeeee!”
And this is the cue for my husband (his nickname is Smotch, for those of you who are new) to detach himself from his Youtube videos (I refuse to pay for television services; therefore, this is his viewing addiction) and come tuck me in.
Which mostly consists of:
- plugging my phone into my wall charger for me, and
- turning off my light
*laugh*
Yes, I know I could do both of those things myself.
But, as I frequently tell him:
That’s not my job.
*laugh*
SO
That is our bedtime ritual.
If you have one, please use the comments and tell me:
What is yours?
My theme for this year’s A-to-Z Challenge is Twenty(-six) Questions.
For the letter B, the question I both answer and ask is: What are your bedtime rituals?
Your bedtime ritual with your husband plugging in your phone is cute.
26 questions is a great A to Z theme. My time ritual typically starts hours before my own bedtime as I walk my children through their bedtimes, then I get a chance to relax, before a bit of reading in bed.
Stopping in from A to Z:
https://brewingcoffeetwistingwordsbreakingpencils.ca/2022/04/02/book/#comment-5561
Once upon a time, reading in bed was a risky undertaking for me — the risk being that I would stay up all night reading! *laugh*
Thanks for visiting. 🙂
You (and your phone) getting tucked in – I love that. I kind of ease myself into letting go of the day, by spending a half-hour or so with my legs propped up a wall, while I listen to an audiobook. Then jams; meditation; a metta prayer/blessing for myself and all beings, with a bonus dose of loving energy sent to all my beloveds; then I take a final dose of flower essences, and anoint myself with some natural botanical perfumed oil. Scent is hugely important to me, and I love knowing that scent can ease my way into the dream world. Alas, I’ve never thought to declare “it’s not my job,” so I have to plug in my own devices for charging.
Deborah Weber recently posted…Pointed Ponderings: B
That sounds like a lovely way to wind down.
I am sensitive to scent, but sometimes I spray my pillows with lavender and I find that helps me relax more easily if I’ve had a tense day. 🙂
Fun to know what others do before bedtime. Mine’s the same every night. Fix my snack – apple pieces, peanut butter, crackers, and milk. Sit in recliner in bedroom with book, then after awhile fall asleep. Wake up later & turn off light, put on sound machine – ocean waves. Go back to sleep. 🙂
That’s a great evening snack!
I think the sound of ocean waves is a delightful soundtrack to fall asleep to. 🙂
I usually have to wake my hubby up after him having fallen asleep watching whatever it is we’re binging that night. I wash some lettuce and parsley and take it down to our rabbit and put her away for the night. Storm turns off lights and secures the house. We brush our teeth…… and then I get undressed from the waist down……. he crawls in and has a bit of a feel if he wants. lol Sometimes I massage his arm and hand (carpel tunnel)….. the lights are out so we make kissy noises with our mouths until we find one another in the dark for a goodnight smooch and an I love you! He falls asleep again while I play a form of solitaire on my phone, look up recipes on computer, listen to podcasts, listen to Audible…..whatever it takes for me to wind down and fall asleep. It can be dangerous for me to do all that in bed though if it’s really interesting. Keeps me up too long! lol Hugs, Windy
I didn’t know you had a rabbit! 🐰
If you are a recipe lover, there is a food blogger you might like. Her name is Erin and she has great, real-person recipes:
https://www.wellplated.com/
We’ve had 4 rabbits over the years. Down to 1. She is a sweetie. Red Rex. She’s a mini Rex, but the vet said years ago, “Are you sure she’s a mini? She looks like she ate a mini-Rex.” LMAO
Thanks for the recipe blog. I will check it out!
Haha! She looks like she ate a mini! 😋
Once I come into the room, we watch whatever shared stuff we like to see on the DVR while, on the hour, I ask her if she has to pee; she’ll ask me and in the first hour, I don’t but she does. We view the stuff or if there’s nothing, we use the voice remote to invoke Netflix and watch whatever we have lined up there.
While reading and talking about the books we’re reading. By the time we’re ready to call it a night – and her sleeping pill has kicked in – I kiss her lips, then her forehead… and say to her, “Show me some ass, baby!” She almost always laughs, gives me some shit about it, rolls over, shows me her ass; I’ll rub it and say, “Yeah, baby girl… she’s always trying to deprive you of the attention you deserve! Don’t worry – I got you!”
I’ll go back to reading the book I’m reading until I start to nod off; I’ll open an audiobook on my iPad, put on my “eye bra” – the sun always comes in my window – and that’s it for the night.
Haha! I love that! A little booty love! 😉
And I have a bladder the size of a chickpea so I completely understand the “gotta pee?” question. 🙂
loving the nickname and the plugging in of fone.
We don’t sleep in the same house so our ritual is usually goodnights over text. there are the usual see you tomorrows and goodnights, but we also say “onaa” which is short for “or not at all” which started out as “have good dreams or not at all” and over time became “dream good onaa” and now it’s just plain ol’ onaa. and if we’re talking to each other or sleeping tog on vacay or whatever we actually say it like a word that sounds like “oh-na”.
Awww. I love how little “isms” develop in intimate language. Onaa is adorbs.
Oh my gosh, reading the bedtime rituals, especially the end is like so much heart hugs. Thanks for sharing.
I agree: so sweet. 🙂
I love getting little glimpses into readers’ lives. 🙂
My favourite part of the day is getting into bed after the teeth, hair, skin, tablet ritual and opening my iPad to write my diary. I add a couple of photos as well. Then I look back at what happened this day for the past six years (the app is Day One). One sad thing is my husband is now very deaf so when the hearing aids are out it’s sign language only. That can be interesting however.
Oh, how fabulous to have an “on this day” running record! Thanks for the app recommendation. 🙂
My husband and I nearly always settle down to watch a YouTube vid together from one of the tool/object restoration channels just before we go to sleep. It helps us switch our brains off since they are usually very satisfying to watch. Rob usually falls asleep way before the end of the vid😆.
Tasha
Tasha’s Thinkings: YouTube – What They Don’t Tell You (and free fiction)
Tasha recently posted…C is for Content #YouTube #AtoZChallenge
I can imagine those would, indeed, be very satisfying to watch!
Funny that he tends to fall asleep before they’re through. 🙂
Aww. Sounds lovely. I have been going to sleep alone for a year now. But these days my flatmate’s dog has taken up the habit to come and cuddle with me a few minutes before she goes off to sleep in her room and I think it’s her way of showing care and saying goodnight.
Pet snuggles are so special! 🙂
Bathroom stuff then we both head for my bed where we both read or he will look at stuff on his phone. There is usually some back stroking, by Michael of me because that is the way it is meant to be and then some snuggling and when everyone is sleepy he heads off to his bedroom. It is one of my absolute favourite times of the day
Molly
Awww. That sounds sweet and lovely.
Bedtime Rituals actually govern my mood the next day!
Yes, the prelude and the postlude to a good (or bad) sleep — they are definitely connected!
We always go upstairs at the same time, then I help my husband to get his shirt off (due to the side effects of his meds he has constant muscle pain and can’t use his arms properly). Then I go to the bathroom to wash myself and brush my teeth, and when I go to the bedroom it’s his turn in the bathroom to do the same. When we both are in bed, he switches on the television and at that stage I’m already watching a series on my tablet. Then when we are both ready, we switch everything off, give each other a kiss and then go to sleep.
~ Marie xox
Marie Rebelle recently posted…A Dozen Plus One
Watching something – separately, together or together, separately – seems to be a common routine from what I’m reading in the comments.
I don’t think I’ll be original. Before falling asleep, I always read from the screen of my gadget. When it appears that I fall asleep, I just put it on the nightstand.
Reading before bed is always relaxing. 🙂
Probably for many people this ritual is very similar: wash your face, brush your teeth, read, sleep. Unless there are other offers in between 🙂
Yes… ‘Offers’ do tend to alter the routine. 😉