Mommy Mojo: Mommy-ness As A Meditation

By Sandy Grason

January 2001
Friday afternoon around 4pm, the light is streaming into my husband’s office as we draft a birthday card for my father-in-law’s 60th birthday. We will be leaving for a Disney cruise in the morning to celebrate with the entire family. I suddenly realize that the girls have been suspiciously quiet and peek into their room (3 feet away) to check on them. This is what I see:

My older daughter, Haley, 4 years old, is standing over her little sister Emily with a pair of children’s scissors. The diaper pail is open and Haley is holding a large clump of Emily’s hair, methodically cutting and then dropping it into the diaper pail. Emily is poised on the painted jungle bench, hands clasped in her lap, happily swinging her feet back and forth, with a big smile on her face. And. No. Hair. Left. On. Her. Head.

I burst into tears.

Just moments before, my two year old daughter had the thickest, shoulder-length wavy gorgeous, long flowing locks of dark brown hair. It danced around and across her face as she peered up at you with giant brown eyes. Now, she looked like she was recovering from brain surgery.

Haley Scissorhands and her tiny patient were quite pleased with the results of their project until they saw my face.

“Mommy, why are you crying? Emily likes it.”

I called my hairstylist for an emergency appointment, we were leaving for a major family vacation the next morning! Could she help me fix Emily’s hair?

The prognosis was negative. Emily had one wispy piece of hair approximately two inches long dangling behind her left ear, the rest was gone.

I refer to these moments as The Opportunity to Practice Mommy-ness As a Meditation.

I remember having a conversation with a dear friend and mentor shortly after giving birth, he suggested that anything could be a meditation. Breastfeeding my baby could be a meditation. Washing dishes with warm soapy water could be a meditation. Walking down the sidewalk could be a meditation. He recommended that, being a new mom, it might be very helpful to identify everyday actives and make them my meditation practice.

Over the last twelve years, his words have bubbled up, or sometimes exploded, into my head in the middle of one of many “Calgon Moments”. Are you old enough to remember the television commercials from the 1970’s?

“The traffic! The boss! The baby! The dog! That does it! Calgon take me away!”

Ha! Well, declaring that whatever crazy or chaotic moment being presented to me is an opportunity to use life as a meditation has steered me away from many nervous breakdowns that not even a Super Size Serving of Calgon could cure.

This year Emily asked me if she could get highlights in her hair. I was opposed, especially at spending hundreds of dollars on a temporary procedure for my twelve year old daughter’s hairstyle. However, I also believe that if I give her the opportunity to experiment with blonde, green or even purple streaks and crazy hair then perhaps she won’t feel the need to experiment with tattoos and piercings later on. So I purchased a ten dollar home hair highlighting kit.

As Emily and I sat in the bathroom for hours and hours, pulling skinny strands of hair through microscopic holes in a ridiculous plastic cap (she would not allow me to take a picture of this) I remembered her tragic haircut over ten years ago and felt reassured that no matter how awful my Mad-Highlighting-Skilz turned out to be, her hair would, once again, recover. And so would I.

Sandy Grason is an International Speaker, Hot Mogul, Rock Star Author of the bestselling book, JOURNALUTION and host of “The Road to Fabulous” on LA Talk Radio.
CEO of Sandy Grason Unlimited, a company dedicated to supporting women in creating an opulent lifestyle that feeds the soul. She is the creator of numerous successful programs such as; The Fabulous Formula, The Manifesting Formula, Rock Star Marketing Secrets and Secrets of Fabulous Celebrity Endorsements.
Sandy has shared the stage with many celebrity authors including; Rosie O’Donnell, Marianne Williamson, David Bach and Mark Victor Hansen on stages around the world. Her work is endorsed by Deepak Chopra, Louise Hay, John Gray and thousands of individuals whose lives have been transformed through her books, workshops, interviews and live performances.
Sandy has been featured in The Chicago Tribune, The Palm Beach Post, Body + Soul Magazine, Woman’s Day, Ocean Drive Magazine and many more.