Adults: Come Out & Play!9.8106Do you ever just have one of those days???

So, today started off really well. It rained last night and I had a really great sleep... something soothing about hearing the rain fall softly on the roof and the cool draft from the open windows as I lay snuggled up under the blankets.  I woke up early and was so motivated!!   I started my day with a 3 mile run, an hour of qi gong and a really healthy breakfast. So, you know, I was pretty pumped to face the rest of my day - when disaster struck...

Ok, so maybe that's being a little dramatic...

The Drama

Ok, so here's what happened. I had been putting so much energy into a project all week, and then poof! I get an email and now it's all gone.  Hours of work and thought and excitement just no longer....  I felt like my whole week has been a waste - and things just kept going downhill.

I was in a bad mood, which I then took out on a really good friend - and that only made me feel even worse! And then I lost motivation to do anything - no matter how much positive thinking I tried to do.  Not only was it not working, but all the happy positive chatter coming from the voices in my head was in fact just pissing me off even more:

• "Melissa, you know that thoughts become things, let's not dwell on the negative - think about something that makes you happy!"
• "Melissa, anger and frustration are low vibrations, lets not dwell in this place, let's get to a happier place and raise our vibration before the girls get home from school. Come on.. you can do it!"
• "Melissa, you know happiness is unconditional, let's choose to get out of this funky mood and turn this day around!"

I finally couldn't stand it any more - why can't all the voices just let me dwell in my misery?  How did this little band of cheerleaders get into my head anyway?  So I finally broke down and broke the 1 rule no self-respecting mom/business owner/personal development junkie should ever do - I just took a nap. That's right, my crazy workaholic, overachieving self laid down at 1 in the afternoon and just went to sleep.

When the babysitter finally brought my girls home, it was almost 5 pm - and I was horrified! My mind immediately raced to all the things I didn't get done, the long list of phone call and emails and errands I just did not do.  And my horrible mood was on the verge of returning when Sydney runs in and saves the day with "Can I go play?"

All Work & No Play Makes                   Melissa a Dull Girl!

Yes Sydney - you can go play, and you know what - Maddy you can go play too.  It's ok if your homework is not done - do it later! And you know what - I am going to play too! I am going to log into to Sydney's webkinz account and play mahjong and win her a whole bunch of money so she can decorate a room for her new swan webkinz.

And that's what we did!  We all spent the afternoon playing. I even broke our raw food/vegetarian diet we have been following for the last 2 months and ordered pizza. Then later in the evening we all played Yahtzee (and I totally lost!  Of course - this is one of those games you can't cheat at and let your kids win at... you actually lose for real!)

So I effectively did nothing today except write this blog post and play.  And after I let go of my judgments of myself and my lack of productivity, I realized I had a really great day.  I even called my friend and apologized for being such a blah (<-- insert harsher word!) and then to my mom's utter amazement, I called her out of the blue just to say hi

Just BE!

What would I do if I did not have my kids to remind me not to judge myself so harshly and to just enjoy life and play?  That life is not always about what we need to do - but instead about BEING.  Kids are brilliant at reminding us how we can (and I think truley want) to be and how can we bring more fun and play into our lives and lastly.

So here is my question for you - how do you cope with being a parent when you are having a really bad day? What are the best ways you have found to not take your bad mood out on your kids?

Thanks for sharing - I look forward to using your tips during my next off day