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.

Moms Need Getaways Too!

By Winnie Yu for Completely You


When my daughters were infants, I couldn’t bear to leave them for more than a couple of hours. Call it primal, but it just didn’t feel right to be away from them when they were so small. So with the exception of an occasional date night with my husband or an early girls’ night out, I rarely left their sides, choosing instead to be home, frazzled and exhausted, but present.

Fast-forward a few years, and the value of a good getaway -- for a day or a long weekend -- has become increasingly apparent and necessary for my sanity. Sure, a Calgon bath is nice (remember the “Calgon, take me away” ads?), but a real escape is considerably better.

Whether it’s a weekend with the girls or a solo business trip, it’s good to take a time-out from motherhood and remind ourselves that we are people too. And as such, we need time alone, time with friends and time to pursue our dreams and goals.

Sometimes, a short getaway is all I need to recharge. It can be something as simple as going to a leisurely lunch with a friend or going on a shopping trip by myself. Other times, life calls for a longer excursion, such as an extended visit with a friend, a work conference or a weekend spa trip with the girls. (If you need some great short escape ideas to inspire you, click here.)

Being away on my own helps me to remember my carefree days when my responsibilities were significantly fewer and when I had only one person to worry about: me. It also gives me perspective on my life because it lets me step outside of it for a while. Best of all, it helps me appreciate the wonderful people who have since come into my life, especially my two daughters.

Mind you, I always miss them when I’m away. I think of their sweet smiles and the way they still hold on to me, even as they are slowly growing up. I do not think of their bickering, their messy rooms or the way they sigh when I ask them to take the dog out.

With those loving thoughts in mind, I make my return as a calmer, happier person who feels multidimensional. When the wheels of family life start spinning again, I’m able to be a better mom.



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.

Cleaning on the Go!

By Winnie Yu for Completely You



When my kids were little, I used to devote an entire morning to cleaning the house. Three hours straight of scrubbing, dusting and vacuuming. In the end, I had a nice clean house to show for it.

But keeping up that kind of ritual didn’t work. Life got busier as the kids got older, and several years ago, I became the master of the five-minute cleanup. Now, if I have a few minutes to spare, I’ll scrub a toilet, wipe off a counter and dust a few tables. I call it cleaning on the go.

With this new style of cleaning, my house may never be completely clean again. Rather, it will be clean here or there -- just not everywhere. So my living room may be free of dust, but my kitchen will be a fiasco. My bathroom may be sparkling, but my office might be a disaster.

Cleaning this way has taught me three things:

1. I must have a clean bedroom. Going to bed in a room that’s filled with chaos is just not my cup of tea, thank you very much. That means every day, I make my bed; every week, I dust and vacuum my bedroom. If there’s one room that receives top priority, it’s the room where I sleep.

2. A clean kitchen floor makes it easy to let everything else go. When that’s sparkling, everything feels a little cleaner, even if my kitchen counters are a bit cluttered or the mudroom shelves are messy.

3. I am not a neat freak. While I fall on the side of the Felix Ungers as opposed to the Oscar Madisons, I am not nearly as tidy as some neatniks. If I can live with messes, then maybe I’m not as much of a clean queen as I’d like to think I am. And that’s OK. For me, I’ve learned that clean
enough is good enough.

Do you feel guilty about not cleaning often enough? Talk about it!



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.