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Welcome to The Smart Mom Manual. I'm Winnie Yu, mom blogger at CompletelyYou.com. My daughters, Samantha and Annie, are 14 and 12. Like most moms, I'm still trying to perfect the balancing act that we all know as motherhood in the modern world. Please don't hesitate to write to me as you read my blog. You can also tweet me @Completely_You. I look forward to hearing from you!

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

What’s Your Hurry?

By Winnie Yu for Completely You



All my life, I’ve been one of those people who walk quickly on life’s treadmill. I talk fast. I move fast. I think fast. The good news is I get a lot done.

And so it came as no surprise that as a mom, I had a tendency to hurry my kids along. There were places to be, people to see, things to do! Get out the door so we could arrive on time and do what we had to do.

Lately, I’ve been rethinking that strategy and changing some of my fast-paced, always-in-a-hurry ways. Instead of leaving half an hour before an event, I leave 10 minutes before it. Rather than race through a store, I try to pay attention to what my daughters are showing me. Instead of watching the clock while I’m taking an exercise class, I try to focus on what I’m doing and to do it more deliberately.

Nowhere is that more important than at dinnertime, where we still somehow manage to eat together most nights. I recently read Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life, a book by the famous Buddhist monk Thich Naht Hanh and Dr. Lilian Cheung, registered dietitian and director of health promotion and communication for the Harvard School of Public Health. The book talks about the importance of eating slowly as a way to control our weight. It also stresses the importance of being present in each moment of our lives and not living in the past or future.

For those of us in life’s fast lane, maybe it’s time to learn from those who amble along on life’s treadmill. Maybe it’s time we dawdle in stores and sip our lattes down to the last drop. I’d like to think that letting up on the gas will help us savor the scenery.



Winnie Yu is Completely You’s mom blogger. She has two daughters (Samantha, 14, and Annie, 12) and is the author of seven books, including New Mother’s Guide to Breastfeeding and What to Eat for What Ails You. Her work has appeared in numerous publications, including Woman’s Day, AARP Bulletin, Prevention and WebMD.com.

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