Welcome to the December Mindful Mama Carnival: Staying Mindful During the Holiday Season
This post was written for inclusion in the Mindful Mama Carnival hosted by Becoming Crunchy and TouchstoneZ. This month our participants have shared how they stay mindful during the holiday season. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.
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Every year, just after Christmas, we go away for a week with my husband’s family (and by family I mean parents, brothers, their families and anyone else who happens to be around). One week, one house full of people. An introvert’s worst nightmare.
Usually I just write the week off as something that has to be done for the family. But this year I don’t want to write off a whole week of my life. I want it to be different.
I was trying to put together a plan which revolved around getting some time on my own. But while it would help, instinctively I knew that this wasn’t the answer. At least not the whole answer. Then what could the missing part be?
I thought back to all the family holidays over the last few years. There were some wonderful moments there. I swam across a lake on my own and it was scary and thrilling at the same time. I watched my son play with sticks while I was holding my daughter close to my heart for her nap. We ran on the beach. We fed birds. We laughed. And still, by the end of the holiday I’d feel like a wreck and I’d be driving my husband crazy. Was I letting my perception of the whole overshadow my joy of the individual moments?
What if I take the moments one by one as they come this year? If by the end of the holiday I end up with a collection of moments that will warm my heart, will it matter that other moments were a struggle?
I’ll have to try it. And to make it work I need practice. My collection starts now.
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Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:
- Enjoying Busy Times Moment by Moment Amy at Peace 4 Parents offers a handful of simple pointers to make the most of any busy season in your life.
- Staying A Mindful Mama During The Holiday Season Terri at Eco-Crazy Mom shares her thoughts on being a mindful mama, while keeping your sanity throughout the holiday season..
- Holiday Parenting: The Gift of Natural Play Moorea at MamaLady shares her holiday plan for mindfully spending time with children in her extended family.
- The ABC’s of Mindful Parenting Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama provides a comprehensive list of Mindful Parenting Resultions for 2012. In addition, she briefly reviews her mindful parenting journey for this past year.
- The 123′s of Mindful Parenting Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama shares part 3 of her Mindful Parenting series (Link will be live tomorrow, Dec 14).
- Mindful Mama Guest Post from Hybrid Rasta Mama Zoie at TouchstoneZ is honored to share Part 2 of Jennifer’s series on staying Mindful for the Holidays.
- Saying No to Plastic Toys Nada at minimomist and her husband Michael, have certain rules when it comes to toys for their daughter Naomi. Here’s how they deal with well-meaning gifts that don’t quite work for their family.
- Can you LOVE WHAT IS at Christmas? with so many expectations and no many people’s needs to accomodate, Patti at Jazzy Mama has decided to simply accept what can’t be changed and love whatever happens.
- Minimal Temptation, Minimal Gifting Adrienne at Mommying My Way shares how not exposing herself to tempting purchases, as well as having fun family traditions, helps keep her Christmas list under control.
- Choice And Consequence In Conscious Mindfulness Luschka at Diary of a First Child shares her realisation that consciously monitoring our thoughts have a powerful effect on our lives, regardless of circumstances or influences.
- A Light in the Darkness Sylvia at MaMammalia writes about overcoming holiday blues through the miracle of motherhood.
- Nature-Inspired Christmas Tree Kerry at City Kids Homeschooling describes how she and her children discovered the beauty and simplicity of a nature-inspired holiday tree.
- Giving The Gift of Life Free Range Mama at My Healthy Green Family shares about teaching children how to look beyond the well-wrapped box and learn how to give. .
- Can a collection of moments be more than the whole? Tat at Mum in search asks how do you turn a holiday from hell into a series of beautiful moments?
- Flying Through the Holidays Jenn at Monkey Butt Junction discusses how a simple organizational plan has kept her holidays balanced.
- Celebrating Advent week to week Lauren at Hobo Mama finds that counting down weeks instead of days helps children with the long wait.
- 5 Ways to Stay Mindful This Holiday Season Charise at I Thought I Knew Mama shares ideas and photos that help her stay mindful throughout the holidays.
- Simplifying the Holidays Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children shares how simplifying the holidays has made them more special for her.
- Mindfully Managing the Mania Erica at ChildOrganics fights against “the gimmes” and shares strategies for staying balanced during a time of year when it’s easy to overindulge.
- Six Ways to Enjoy the Holidays Without Losing Your Mindfulness Rachael at The Variegated Life shares tips on thinking less, planning less, doing less, and remembering.
- The Gift of Presence Darcel at The Mahogany Way explains how important it is to be present for and with her family during the Holidays.
- Mindfully meditating on celebrations Dionna at Code Name: Mama hosts this guest post from Child of the Nature Isle about desiring meaningful celebrations for the whole year.
- What Does It Really Mean? Staying Mindful Through the Holiday Season Kelly at Becoming Crunchy talks about how she stays in touch with what the holiday season means for her and her family, in spite of all the temptations to do otherwise!
Hi, I'm Tat. I believe that through motherhood we're given another chance to find ourselves, grow and shine. I have three beautiful children and I learn a lot from them every day. This year I'm searching for ease in everything I do.
This is lovely, Tat. The times I’ve resisted doing something or going somewhere, only to enjoy some or all of it. I think you’re right; you could miss the beauty of the moment by begrudging the whole. Not sure if this is you, but maybe you could bring along a few little things that allow you to be in control of small moments ofenjoyment, such as a candle of a favourite fragrance, favourite music, a book you’ve always wanted to read, just little things that give you some control at a time when you are following someone else’s agenda.
Veronica @ Mixed Gems recently posted..Disappointed by people
Being control? I hadn’t seen the situation in this light, I thought I was more going-with-the-flow kind of person. I’ll have to think about this – is it a control issue and what I should do about it. Thanks for the ideas!
As the clock seems to speed up as the countdown to Christmas gets closer, I start to feel more and more anxious and distressed.
I start to feel lost in a sea of emotions – that are not usually mine.
This morning I stopped. And made the conscious decision to just stop, and be mindful. It doesn’t have to be all chaos and despair. For every chaotic moment there are 50 amazing ones.
So I’m consciouly trying to practice mindfullness…
I had a conversation with my little boy (5) today. I said to him “I love you” he asked, “Why do you love me mummy?” without hesitation, I was able to reply “because you make my heart happy”
Reading your post is for me the universe’s way of confirming that I have made a good choice. Thank you
x
Vicky recently posted..Adrift
Christmas is coming… ARGH!!!
Dad Blog Tork recently posted..Why Don’t You Like Dad Blogs But Love Mum Blogs?
A lovely post. It’s funny, while I value my personal space – from family especially – the thought of a week surrounded by them is a lovely one. A week with ALL the inlaws though?? I might feel about the same as you! I love them dearly, but it’s a lot of work. I think you’re on the right track… a day at a time, holding on to the precious moments, and having the freedom to respect yourself too, and say you need some time to yourself.
Luschka recently posted..Choice And Consequence In Conscious Mindfulness
I could have taken a lesson from this post a few years ago. We had what was by all accounts a wonderful holiday get-together until my mom said something horrible to me that really just ruined all of the good that we had built up in the preceeding days. That year became known as the year my mom ruined Christmas, but it didn’t have to be. That was just one moment, but we let it overshadow the good.
Jenn @ Monkey Butt Junction recently posted..Flying Through the Holidays
Wow, what a collection of mindful posts! That’s amazing. I hope you are able to enjoy those moments as they happen. I totally get it about feeling depleted when having spent too much time around people.
Kristy @PampersandPinot recently posted..Meet Me on Monday
Such a good post! It is often hard to capture those moments of joy when there can be a lot of disruption and noise, but this post is a good reminder to try! And to breathe….
-Kerry @ City Kids Homeschooling
You have some beautiful holiday moments to treasure don’t you? I’m quietly smiling that after a huge christmas and holiday time last year…this year is going to be much more chill. I love to hang out but the introvert gets a little peaked at the thought of a week or more of it
kirri recently posted..How to keep pursuing what you want when life sucks.
I can really relate to this. I think you’ve really nailed it by pointing out that our perception of the whole can destroy our ability to enjoy individual moments. I sometimes wig out about Xmas, but each year after it’s come and gone, I realize it wasn’t so bad. My negative thoughts surrounding it were much worse! I’m going to take your lead and try to take each moment as it comes. Thanks for sharing!
P.S. I tried to leave a comment earlier but I was interrupted by a non-napping toddler (my life these days). Sorry if this is a duplicate!
MaMammalia recently posted..A Light in the Darkness
Brilliant, and something I also will think about and try. I have the same problem with tasks like this — I said tasks and then laughed, because I mean family visits, parties with new friends, all those introvert-unfriendly burdens that are also joys. I hope your visit goes well this year and that the small, beautiful moments are what bring you through.
Lauren @ Hobo Mama recently posted..Wordless Wednesday: Pirates, monkeys, and hobo babies
So insightful, Tat! I spend a week with my in-laws every year and wind up feeling the same way you describe. I’ll have to reconsider your post and remind myself not to “write off a week of my life”.
Carrie @ Hazardous Design recently posted..A Butler’s Bliss
A very honest post. I feel the same when spending a lot of time with my inlaws. Thanks for the insight. Christmas is coming…
Hope you can focus on the happy moments throughout it all.
What a beautiful post, thank you for sharing!
~Terri Babin
@EcoCrazyMom
Terri Babin recently posted..Introducing Fluff Bling- The HOTTEST New Cloth Diaper Accessory!
Thank you for participating in the Mindful Mama Carnival.
This post is an inspiring messages about mindfulness. It realy is in our hands to decide how we will engage with every moment, isn’t it? It’s easy to fall into perfection even when we’re striving for family or personal time. Relaxing and letting it go, while still remaining present in the moment can change it.
I hope you will write a follow up post that speaks about how your week was (please let me know, if you plan to
Thanks for your comment, Zoie! we are coming back early next year. Will let you know once the post is up. I really hope I manage to retain my mindfulness!