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Kimberly Quinn Smith
Clinical
Therapist and Author
of
"Striving for the Purple Heart"
and
"On the Fast Track"
Author Raises Motherhood Dilemmas in New Book - Page 1 of 3
One gets the feeling after meeting Kimberly Quinn Smith that she is a good listener. She pauses thoughtfully when asked a question and seems at ease under the microscope, although she admits she's used to being on the opposite end of an interview.
The Montgomery mother of five children - all under 12 - is the author of a new book about motherhood. A counseling psychologist by trade, Smith interviewed mothers around the country and Canada about the pressures of motherhood. "Striving for the Purple Heart: Mothers in the Universal Pursuit of Honor" hit bookstores in July of this year.
The book discusses feelings of inadequacy women experience when attempting to be the super mom, to do it all; a subject she could draw from first-hand experience. She said after she had her first child, she searched for a book on the subject of over-achieving moms "To read it, to know I wasn't going nutty."
Smith said she thought "Other mothers must have this 'super mom' pressure on them."
The books she found were about how to achieve more in less time. "How to juggle more balls in the air," she said.
While browsing the parenting book section, most of the titles contained tips on raising tolerance to stress and not how to address it, she said.
Smith continued to work as a counselor while she had four kids under five years old. She had the flexibility of doing the note writing aspect of her job at home.
"I was literally up at 4:30, breast feeding and writing notes," she said.
Which was at least partially the impetus for writing her book.
Guilt, a major topic addressed in "Striving for the Purple Heart," was a feeling Smith had to tackle. The guilt of having a second baby, the guilt of not being able to get everything tidy in the house, the guilt of being a working mother.
When she couldn't find a book on the subject, Smith wrote her own.
With the help of a few contacts, she interviewed women across the country who hailed from different socioeconomic backgrounds and stages of motherhood.
Smith said she aimed to make the book available for all mothers, not just professional women, from all backgrounds because motherhood is universal.
County Courier 1 2 3
All Content Copyright 2005-2006 Kimberly Quinn Smith
All Rights Reserved.
This page was last updated May 21, 2006.
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