The first Monday after the holiday break is always hard. Going back to work, school, your routine, carpooling, and doing all that laundry you’ve let accumulate while you spent a few days in pajamas really isn’t a fun start to the New Year. There is no smooth way to ease into it. You are quickly thrust into the throws of obligation while the thoughts of the holidays, relaxation and family time rapidly dissipate from your memory.

The good news is that everyone experiences this. The collective dread and Facebook postings reflecting this harsh reentry should at least provide some comfort knowing you’re not alone.

Though many mothers are ready to get their kids back to school and out of their hair, it is always bittersweet because of all the scheduling and to-dos that comes with it. Along with the masses, I started off my New Year with a super busy Monday. I had so much to do and not much time to get it done and though I really try not to multitask (it’s kind of the enemy), I had succumb to doing too many things at once. I had a 10am meeting with a new client and before getting there, had to take the kids to school, go food shopping, and bake some banana chocolate chip muffins for belated holiday gifts for my masseuse and web developer I was seeing later that day.

Feeling like a whirling dervish in my kitchen putting groceries away and scrambling to make the muffins, I pulled my plastic sugar container out of the cupboard and with a moment of premonition I told myself that I’d better slow down otherwise I was going to drop the sugar.

Sure enough, I dropped the container, breaking it, causing sugar to spill out and ooze all over the floor. I really had no time for this. Feeling super frustrated, I took a deep breath and laughed as I said out loud that there was no use crying over spilled sugar. I cleaned it up, told myself to slow down and be present, and proceeded to get the muffins in the oven and got out the door only 10 minutes late to my appointment.

I was meeting new clients at Peet’s Coffee to grab a coffee (tea for me) and discuss doing mindfulness work with their son. As I finished preparing my tea with my Stevia and half and half, I was grateful to finally be sitting down. I lifted the cup to take my first sip and as I brought it to my lips, a huge amount of hot tea proceeded to pour straight down my V-neck sweater, through to my tank top and burning my skin. Tea is really hot!! Once again, I was reminded that when I’m being mindless, my mind is like a monkey jumping from one thing to the next and it is near impossible to pay attention to what is in front of me. Had I been more mindful, I would have noticed that the top of my cup was not on all the way, which is what caused me to ruin my outfit, get burned and feel impish in front of these parents.

Life constantly presents us with challenges; this is a simple fact. The question remains: how are you going to respond to whatever is arising in the moment? You always have a choice: when the going gets tough, are you going to throw in the towel and give up? Or are you going to breathe and acknowledge that some days are just like this?

My favorite book as a kid was Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst; in fact I used to have the whole thing memorized! I now realize that the book’s message is really about mindfulness. It is learning to give space for whatever is going to arise and acknowledging it, without letting it take over and control you. This also requires faith and knowledge that this too shall pass and tomorrow is another day. Alexander thinks that if he just moves to Australia everything would be all better, but as his mother points out, “…some days are like this. Even in Australia.”

Mindfulness provides us the tools to skillfully manage through difficult moments. Cultivating this practice teaches us to slow down, allow our attention of mind to rest in the present moment, and breathe. When we can practice giving space for whatever is arising to exist without judgment, and nurture ourselves with self-compassion, we are better skilled at becoming Teflon rather than being Velcro. It is always a choice to choose to let things go rather than hold on and get stuck in negativity.

As in the case with my spilt sugar and tea-stained shirt, I chose to be Teflon, took some deep mindful breaths, gave myself compassion and moved on. Beating myself up for my carelessness would have only lingered on throughout my day and put me in a bad mood, potentially ruining my subsequent massage. As soon as I let it all go, I was even able to laugh at just how much I put my practice into use and what better example could I offer my new client than to show them how to apply mindfulness to any situation? This was just my Monday morning and all these mishaps could happen to anyone…even in Australia.

Posted on 1/9/2013

Written by Joree Rosenblatt

Joree Rosenblatt has a Master’s in Counseling Psychology and is a mindfulness educator in the Bay Area. In addition to working at a K-8 private school teaching mindfulness to students, she teaches her original curriculum to adults, and onsite in corporations, in the Fundamentals of Mindfulness and Mindful Parenting. Joree’s true passion is raising her two daughters, mindfully of course…well, most of the time! Even though she already is a rock star mom, Joree practices mindfulness every day, and when all else fails, she remembers to take a moment and just breathe.

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