Embrace the Messy Days

Hi loves! I am so sorry I haven’t been posting on my blog lately, but life gets busy. I wanted to return to my blog with something special and what’s more special than The Greyson Diaries? For those of you who don’t remember, or for those of you who haven’t read The Greyson Diaries before, it is a blog series dedicated to motherhood and my beautiful little boy, named Greyson. I became a stay at home mama in 2019, a few months after giving birth to Greyson. I left my job as the Marketing Assistant to an upscale shopping and dining plaza to live the mommy life and to soak up every moment with my son, which was the best decision I ever made. It’s a little weird at first, leaving the workforce behind, but if you’re able to be a stay at home mama, and it’s something that you want for yourself, I recommend the change. It’s a beautiful change.

I have owned my own company since 2014, Petsitting by Lizzie LLC, which has allowed me to still work when I want to, but I am mostly home and I am truly content. I also own and operate a new company alongside my husband, which is an exterior home improvement company called Killough’s Exterior Repairs LLC. I absolutely love running our company. It’s nice to be able to work from home and since I do all of the marketing, advertising, and scheduling for our clients, I get to use a lot of my skills (my background is Fashion and Marketing). Also, I am currently enrolled in school online at Parsons for Fashion Business, which is exciting, but weekly schoolwork has also added a lot to my plate, so I am looking forward to being done this summer.

I am a stay at home mama at the end of the day, regardless of any other obligations, hobbies, and passions of mine. There’s no job harder than being a parent, but there’s also no better job. I am here to remind you to embrace the messy days and no, I don’t mean literal messes, such as spilled food, I mean life messes. There are days that are filled with chaos, yelling, stress, and sometimes even tears. Yes, we have all locked ourselves in a bathroom and cried. Life messes consist of busy schedules and missed appointments, toddler tantrums that make us want to pull our hair, a few nervous breakdowns and runny mascara, and letting out a scream every now and then. I know how challenging motherhood can be, mamas. I know that some days are so beautiful and easy and others are hard and tiring, but that’s life. We are badasses and we can accomplish it all, even if we need a glass of wine and a cup of coffee to get through the day! I have a very smart, adventurous three year old, and he has his moments, just like all children do. By the way, even as adults we have our moments. I have my cranky, moody days and I know that I am not perfect. I would never expect my child to be perfect and sunny 24/7. Remember, just because your child is small doesn’t mean they’re not entitled to having a bad day, or a few bad days, just like us.

Some days Greyson is cranky and his favorite word is “no” (sound familiar?) and other days he’s easygoing and beyond happy. Some days I have a million errands to run on top of my normal, daily schedule, and I am exhausted at the end of the day. Some days I complain my way through my nightly workout routine, because I just don’t have the energy for it. Some days are chaotic and I feel as though I don’t even have a second to eat. I cannot tell you how many times I simply forgot to eat lunch or an early dinner because the day was so busy. Some days Greyson acts up at a store and I want to yell, but I have to remind myself to keep calm and move on. As mamas, we have to show up and work hard, no matter what. There are no sick days, call outs, or vacation days. Some days we wake up with the flu or a bad cold and we have to push through, no matter how badly we want to just lay in bed all day and binge-watch a Netflix show. Motherhood is messy, but it’s also gorgeous. There are so many more smiles than there are tears. There are so many more sunny days than there are cloudy. I embrace the messes of life and of motherhood because I know that they’re natural, expected, and healthy.

If you lose your cool and you scream when your child is disobeying you, that’s okay. You can explain to your child that even mommy gets upset and stressed sometimes (it’s normal), which is a beautiful thing to teach your child. Emotions are not the enemy. Your child will respect your openness and honesty, especially as they get older. I explain to Greyson often that I suffer from severe anxiety and that sometimes little things are big things to me. I am very open with Greyson and I know that he will come to me when he’s having a bad day and feel comfortable sharing his thoughts and emotions with me, because I will never judge him for feeling the way he feels. Mamas are always told to talk through it and not to yell, to remain cool at all times, and to hide the messes from their kids, but that’s no way to live. Your children even from a young age understand that life is messy. When they break a favorite toy and have an emotional reaction to that toy breaking, when they are sick with a bad cold and their bodies feel tired and overwhelmed, and when they fall in a puddle and get all dirty, they are experiencing the same types of messes that we experience. We are all on the same page and the same team. Allow your children to have bad days and don’t hide life from them. Be there with them to help them through and always be open and communicative. Embrace the messes mamas, because the messes make the clean days well worth it.

Xo