I didn’t feel like myself for a long time. Then something shifted — not because life got easier, but because I started choosing me in the small moments. This is how I found my way back.

This week was chaos — sick kids, no sleep, derailed plans — and somehow that turned into the perfect moment to tell the real story of how Messy but Managed started. Spoiler: it wasn’t planned, polished, or strategic. It was born in the cracks of motherhood, at 2 A.M., fueled by exhaustion and a tiny spark of “why not?”

Every year on her birthday, I realize she’s not the only one growing up. She’s seven now, which means I’ve been learning how to be her mom for seven years too. And in every lesson she’s taught me, patience, softness, slowing down, I’m raising her, but I’m also raising me.