"I Considered My Daily Activities to Be Average" — Ayesha Curry Talks Being a Remarkable Mama and Raising a Viral Star
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Back during the NBA Playoffs, Riley Curry, daughter of Stephen Curry — MVP point guard of the Golden State Warriors — became everyone's spirit animal. The spunky toddler captured the hearts of America by adorably interrupting her dad's postgame interviews, and now the Currys have become one of the country's most beloved families.
We got to sit down with Ayesha Curry, Riley's — and baby Ryan's — mama, who joined The Maxximizers at a T.J.Maxx event in NYC, helping to recognize remarkable things that women do every day. We chatted mama organization, raising a viral child, and how to acknowledge all the little things in your day as victories.
Read through for her awesome advice and insights.
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On being remarkable: "Only 19 percent of women feel that they're remarkable, and most women are likely to say that they're average — that's so sad. It's even more sad for me, because before joining [The Maxximizer campaign], I was one of those women. I considered my daily activities to be average. But now I know, the things we do every day — big or small — matter, and they matter to people around us. We are all truly remarkable, and I'm definitely on the other side of the statistic now."
On acknowledging what she accomplishes: "It's interesting, because I think as women we do so much but we don't realize it, and we tend to kind of dumb it down a little bit. It was enlightening to me to realize that I do actually accomplish a lot, and maybe I shouldn't put it down so much."
On mama organization: "My tip is kind of just not to worry about [organization] too much. There are going to be toys scattered all over the floor, there's going to be food left out on the counters, and that's OK. It'll all get cleaned up and picked up at the end of the day — sometimes maybe the next day! — and it's fine. I really try not to stress."
On living in the moment: "It's all about keeping it simple — not anticipating the bad days but focusing on what's happening in the moment and putting all of your attention into that. Then everything else is cake!"
On starting every day on the right foot: "Do something as simple as making up the bed in the morning — then you've already accomplished one thing first thing in the morning."
On her best mama fashion tip: "Right now because I do have a baby, my best tip is honestly to keep a scarf with you at all times. Firstly because scarves always look great, but second because I'm always getting thrown up on, so it hides everything — I also use it as a nursing cover if I'm out and about. I never leave the house without a scarf when I'm with my babies!"
On her favorite thing to do when she's not with her kids: "Date. Night. I love my girls, but date night — I pick my husband over my girlfriends. We usually like to do dinner and a movie, though it ends up being one or the other because we're so exhausted by the end of the night, so we're like, 'Let's just go home!' So we have our date nights, but they don't last too long — and then we all end up in the bed together as a family [Laughs]."
On the biggest mama change after baby number two: "I think I've learned that I'm able to manage more than I thought I could. I was really scared before having Ryan about how I was going to manage everything, but it's kind of just happened and it's going OK."
On Riley being a viral star: "She has no clue she is one, and I'd really like to keep it like that! She would eat it up. The other day she goes to me, 'Mommy, I'm posing,' and I told her, 'Oh, that's nice, baby.' She was like, 'No mommy, I'm posing, take a picture of me!' OK then!"
On the "threenager" phase: "She just turned 3. I was waiting for the terrible twos to rear its ugly head, but she kind of just jumped that and now she's like, 16 years old."
On Riley as a big sister: "She's a wonderful big sister. She really surprised us! Riley was an only child in the truest form — she was the first grandchild as well — she was very spoiled (in a positive way!). I wasn't sure how she was going to take to another little human being around, but she's kind of turned into mini mom. I hope she stays like that!"