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Kimberly Quinn Smith
Author Raises Motherhood Dilemmas in New Book - Page 3 of 3
"I didn't let the book interfere with them. I didn't turn anyone away while I was working on it. I wrote around the kids." The Smiths vacationed at the ocean during the summer and she set the book aside for two weeks. She has also taken a break from her counseling practice because of the hectic schedule even though she still gets calls from clients. Originally from New Paltz, New York, Smith graduated from St. Michael's college and got her graduate degree from Boston College. From there she worked in Washington, D.C. with the mentally disabled, a job she didn't think like. However, she found she did enjoy the job. The atmosphere was very professional and nearly everyone there had a Ph.d. I learned a lot." She then moved to northern New Jersey and practiced there working with children and families in a counseling setting. Smith doesn't see herself as the perpetual psychologist at home with her own kids. I like to think of myself as a very active listener. I try to talk to them and give them all the time they need to say their side," she said. The Smith family moved to Montgomery six years ago. It is a place she said she was drawn to for its small town atmosphere and rural setting. She and her family are avid skiers and enjoy the outdoors. As far as the response in her community to the book, Smith says it's been positive. Still riding the wave of the new book with signings, interviews and speaking engagements, Smith strives to maintain quality family time with her kids, who have pretty active lives themselves. She is also making time for her second book. Smith concludes mothers need to learn to be good enough, not perfect. She said "there is no such thing as a perfect mother. Trying to be perfect is a very passive way of being self destructive." She said "for a child to be well adjusted, a mother needs to make more good decisions than bad, try to attend as many of her child's activities as possible, and be a good enough mother - not a perfect one." ~ ~ ~ by Rebecca Hamm
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