Mama Mindfulness

There are really only two ways to hold a baby.

First, you can devote your whole mind and body to the holding, cradling and bouncing the baby, inhaling her scent and gazing at her little dimpled knees. Or, you bounce and jiggle and rock while you're scanning the newspaper, or talking on the phone, or trying to listen to your spouse, or your other child, or the radio. If you're really talented, you can bounce and rock while checking email or reading a book (having a Kindle helps--much easier to turn pages with one finger).

The truth is that most of the time, both ways work just fine. A relatively happy baby doesn't mind that much if you are also reading the newspaper while you cuddle him. But just wait for the baby to turn sad--or hungry, or tired, or otherwise cranky--and you will find that there is suddenly only one way to hold a baby. I've never yet successfully calmed a fussy baby while also checking email.

As I ease back into my professional life, while still spending most of my time with my now 8-week old, I'm aware of how tempting it is to try to do everything at once. To check email while talking on the phone, to surf the net while watching TV. I've even tried multitasking meditation: surely I can get in a workout while doing a walking meditation and occasionally checking my cell for text messages?

Just like a baby, a happy and smooth day allows us to do a certain amount of multitasking. But when life gets rough, we need to drop the phone and let go of the newspaper and just calm the baby, or ourselves; just attend to the person in front of us, or the email that needs answering.

So here's to the times when we can do it all, and the times when we can do just one thing, but do it well.