“What do you do to take care of yourself?”  Someone recently asked me this question and I was dumbfounded to find that I couldn’t come up with an answer.  I drew a complete blank.  I’m certain that good answers surfaced more easily and naturally before I became a mom.  To hit the point home, I was reminded that I needed to first put my own oxygen mask on if I want to ensure that I could truly be there for those closest to me.  As moms, we manage with such care and attention our children’s diet, their activities (making sure enough fun and play happens), and their rest/downtime because we’ve learned that those things are so crucial in boosting our children’s ability to deal with life’s daily stresses, yet for ourselves and our own bodies we don’t apply the same understanding and principles, even though, one can argue, as caretakers we actually need more stamina and clarity of thought to keep ourselves and our families safe and happy.  Now, if my child is really going to learn more from what I model than what I say, I’m in trouble if I don’t manage to turn things around and act more accordingly to what I preach.   I would love to hear what other moms have done to meet this universal challenge.

Lily Wang Harvey