Flipping out and flipping it over.

So you’re lookin’ for tips for mom’s happiness. Here’s a tip: A smile is just a frown turned upside down. Before you click away, read on…

I’ve flipped before and now it was happening again. (I think this normal for me a few times a year?)

Lately I’ve been an antsy crankypants. Don’t know why. We had a fabulous winter break full of laying around, movies, toys, laying around, movies, toys… you get my drift.

The girls have been back to school and lessons and into our usual weekly routines. Some good fun things have been happening with career-ish endeavors (that I can’t officially announce yet but hopefully can in the next week).

But I’ve been anxious. Nervous. Impatient at the core of it all. Like I was trying to adjust back into the routine and I couldn’t (still having a bit of an uphill battle actually)… which totally goes against my ‘new year, clean slate’ philosophy.

Flip that frown upside down. That is not a request. It is a mandate. Or else.

My 5 year old started asking me why I’ve been yelling so much. I then apologize to her. My 3 year old apologizes for me feeling cranky — “I’m sorry you don’t feel good Mommy.” And then I apologize to her and also tell her to not apologize for something when she didn’t do anything wrong. (Ya follow?)

It’s a mini-cluster over here, adjusting back to our routine. We’ve been laughing and playing and doing our normal things too, but a part of me still feels off. I’ve had a short fuse. I’m told it’s normal after a long winter break. (“How do you think teachers feel when all the kids come back to school,” my mom and sister have brought to my attention… good and scary point.)

So in an effort to reboot and get back to business, I thought to try a few things over the course of a few days that have flipped my frowns upside down in the past. What worked?

We went outside and listened to water run because it always makes me feel like I’m on vacation. Seeking out this water on our grand expedition also required that we walk… which made me feel better (and also reminded me that I did not exercise AT ALL during our 2+ week winter break). Seeing Nature + Breathing Outside Air + Blood Circulation = Feeling Better. It’s true.

I also asked my girls’ advice about how I can be a better mom that frankly made me laugh when I watched it back… a step in the right direction. No matter how much my kids might test my patience in real life, if I look at pictures or watch videos of them, I tend to see them in a different light (the light that takes away any and all testy behavior). The magic of media, I guess. It was helpful and also confusing:

I also tried taking everyone out to lunch and ordering a shot of Baileys Irish Cream in my latte, just because it’s what my girlfriends and I used to do for kicks back in the day (we’d grab a Starbucks, head into a bar, and then ask the bartender to pour a shot of Kalhua into our frappuccinos because we were in our 20’s and didn’t have kids and in Vegas).

I sipped. They colored their menus. Shameful to say, this stupid trick kinda turned my frown right side up. (Relax, it wasn’t like I was shooting vodka…)

How do you bounce back into the routine?