Sunday with Paloma Faith: ‘I love a hot bath’

The singer on early starts with small children, chocolate crêpes and the joy of a good long soak

How does your Sunday start? My children wake me up about 7am, even though every bone in my body is saying, ‘It’s Sunday. You’re meant to sleep in until at least nine.’

Is snoozing an option? On Sundays we have a rule where we all just get into bed together. My five-year-old really loves breakfast in bed, but the one-year-old can’t yet as it would just destroy the bed. I like to cook crêpes on Sundays. My little one likes chocolate spread, the baby has some purée – and I have the leftover scraps.

Are Sunday morning hangovers now a thing of the past? I used to drink on a Saturday night, but I’ve started not to, as it just doesn’t feel worth it any more and I don’t want my kids to think I don’t like them.

How different were Sundays growing up in Hackney? Some days I wouldn’t get up until 1pm. I used to work in bars, so all the bar workers went out from 3am until 7am. I don’t know whether I look back wistfully, but it would be nice to just wake up naturally.

Do you eat out or cook up a roast? I usually make a roast – chicken or lamb – as my little one has a nap at 12.30. My roast potatoes are infamous; they’re super crunchy on the outside and really soft in the middle, and very salty and oily.

Do you read on Sundays? After they’ve gone to sleep, maybe. I’ve just finished Motherhood: A Manifesto by Eliane Glaser, which was brilliant. It’s all about how patriarchal ideas are so ingrained in us that women are perpetuating them themselves. I was, like, ‘Oh my God, I do that!’

What are you bedtime rituals? I love baths. I really like the smell of frankincense and Palo Santo. They’re quite Catholic smells. I’m a lapsed Catholic, but those smells relax me. I’ll normally be ready for sleep by 11pm.

Paloma Faith is touring the UK this year, including a show at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival on 28 April (cheltenhamfestivals.com/jazz)

Contributor

Nick McGrath

The GuardianTramp

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