Samantha Lyons

***I am super excited because this is my first time using this new platform and site. As I reviewed and saved all of my work, I realized through the messages from readers that they were helping people. I decided that I would start taking my writing seriously and giving it the justice it deserves.***

Over the past few weeks I have been reflecting on why I don’t post more blogs. First of all, I absolutely love writing. It’s therapeutic to me. It gives me the ability to share my perspective. It also lets me record my words in a forum that will allow my husband and kids to be able to access them forever. What is cooler than that?

People ALWAYS ask why I don’t post more, and my response is that I’m just too busy. But am I? I’ve always said, “you make time for what you WANT to make time for.” If that’s the case, why don’t I write?

Yesterday I was scrolling through instagram under #momblogger, and it really dawned on me. I don’t fit in this category. I just don’t. I’m not knocking the moms I was seeing, because God knows we need to be uplifting each other. All I’m saying is that I don’t fit in the popular crowd in the industry, and I don’t want to.

Here’s the thing, social media today is all about perception. People see what is in a picture, and it creates a false idea of what actually exists. It’s not that I want to post unedited pictures of my kid having a tantrum, but I also don’t want to order matching outfits from Pottery Barn on my credit card and set up a beach picnic.

In terms of social media, can we fall in love with real? Can we fall in love with truth over a facade? Can we get rid of perception and just have reality? And in terms of each other, can we do the same?

Can we stop comparing or trying to emulate a lifestyle that isn’t true? Is there room for just the average mom? Moms who wake up trying their best to create memories and end up trying their best to make it to bedtime?

Can we just shamelessly choose to make choices day to day that work best for our families? Can I tell you that I sometimes yell at my kids and ask my husband if I’m an awful mother? Is it okay to share that our almost 18 month old baby still nurses 3 times a night? Can I admit that I sometimes don’t want to talk when I see you at Target? Is it okay that the extent of my workout routine is walks around the block with my family? Can I love God and not mention it every other sentence?

Can we just be unapologetically ourselves? 

Can I brag about my kids because they’re mine? Is it okay to stop trying to pretend that I don’t have clean laundry sitting in my dryer literally at any given moment? Our puppy is cute, but I would be a big liar if I didn’t tell you about the annoyed texts I sent my husband every morning for like three weeks straight. “Send help. Our house smells like six bags of pure Walmart ass.” Am I allowed to say “ass” publicly?

Is it time to admit that my husband makes dinner more often than I do and sometimes better than I do?  Can I tell you that he and I fight next to NEVER, without it being a competition in your head for what you experience in your own marriage? Can I share that our most significant disagreement in the last six months was over a stuffed animal rabbit, and I was so upset I cried? LOL (He will laugh when he reads this.)

Also, do you know how we afford to go on lavish vacations? We book them with a deposit. You have until a month before you leave to pay for it. We try our best, put whatever is left on credit card, and pay it off (or just pay the minimum balance), whatever we can afford that month.

Can I tell you that I don’t monitor screen time? That I had to borrow sun screen from another mom at soccer camp on the first day? Can I share that I stare at my kids and genuinely believe they’re perfect? That I play outside with them and kick a ball at a goal when I’d rather be doing literally anything else. Is it okay that everyone tells me, “You’ll get your girl one day,” and I don’t know if I want one?!

Can I tell you that I’m not going to yell at my kids in order to get the perfect picture? That my husband is THE BEST and lets our rabbit live in our walk in closet because I’m obsessed with him. Is it okay to admit that I don’t know how I will manage three kids, school, work, and soccer? Can I tell you that I drink coffee while pregnant? If I’m wondering how you keep your house so clean, can I just ask you right then and there? Can you tell me that you shoved everything in your closet and then show me?! And then stop doing that when I come over? Is there room for all of this in the blogging industry?

Is there room for downright raw and pure reality? I feel like I just crave NORMALITY. I want to be genuinely happy for your successes but also not judge if there’s a hanger and half eaten granola bar in the background of your latest picture. In fact, I’d prefer that you leave it there instead of trying to quickly create the perfect back drop because then I can relate to you, because, I too, have the same exact reality.

Am I the only one that thinks blogging needs more, “what you see is what you get?”

Can we just embrace uplifting each other? Live unapologetically? Can we all just throw caution to the wind and do the best we can? Is there room for that on social media and in mom blogs and in life in general?

Here’s to admitting that I had to rewash yesterday’s last load of laundry so my family doesn’t smell of mildew.

Here’s to welcoming the Christmas blanket in the picture year round.

P.S. It’s 80 degrees in Florida this week, so don’t call me a hypocrite when I post my picnic beach pics. It’s allowed if it’s REALITY. 🙂

XOXOXO

-SL