Do you feel what I am feeling? Just a week ago I was sitting at the end of a dock in a faraway place, kids swimming in the lake, did not have a care in the world, glass of wine in my hand while watching the sun go down. Today I ran to Tilly’s to find “the perfectly frayed black jean short”, raced to school orientation, finished the (late) registration paperwork, battled the freeway going North, then South for two soccer carpools, squeezed in haircuts and a physical. Life went from 0 to 60 again. Did that vacation really happen? I went from full luxurious 9-hour nights of sleep to tossing and turning filled with worries of carpools, classes, schedules, and lists.

 There should be a name for this time of year. When you want to squeeze every last drop out of the last days of summer, but instead you find yourself in the frenzy of school starting. How do we make the transition smoother? Every magazine or blog says to “Make sure you take time to take care of YOU”. Love that, great idea. But in reality, I’m not going to be lounging in the bath to bail on soccer pick up.

 Kid on phone: “Mom, where are you? Practice is over!”

Me: “I am taking time for ME.”

Yeah, right.

Where’s the balance?

So this is it. This is what I tried this week, and it worked. JUST 20 MINUTES is all you need to “put a mask on it”. It doesn’t matter what time of day it is, squeeze it in when you can.

1. Lay on your bed with comfy pillows under your head.
2. Insert glass of wine (don’t forget the straw when wearing a mask!), coffee, or a big glass of ice water with lemon. Pick your happy juice.
3. Fire up your I Pad to watch some Netflix, get caught up on Housewives drama, read some Brene Brown (or Tina Fey). Or you can simply just RELAX.

 Here’s the beauty of it – no one will bother you because, with your mask on, you look downright scary. You know what I mean!

 20 minutes is all you need to recharge the battery. You’ll get up all glowy and ready to face the world! Or at least the 5 Freeway during rush hour.

 So go ahead, PUT A MASK ON IT! Or better yet, put a MANTRA MASK on it!