By Megan
Back before I had kids, I used to buy purses based on their color. Their texture. The feel of the leather. The way they smelled. The way they added that perfect je ne sais quoi to an outfit.
Now that I’m a wife and Mom, I select a handbag based on how big a truck I can drive into it without grazing one of the side-view mirrors or smashing the grill.
The purse I covet these days is not a dainty leopard-skin clutch with lipstick-red leather trim and a tiny gold-beaded clasp. No, these days what I really need is a three-car garage with shoulder straps.
Case in point: After a weekend of running around all over town with the family, playing, shopping, eating out and going to a minor-league baseball game, I noticed strange groaning noises coming from my generously-proportioned genuine orange naugahyde hobo-bag with the silver-tone buckle.
(Don’t laugh, people. You have no idea how many poor little orange naugas had to give their lives to make this bag. It’s tragic. Well, at least that’s what I hear people sayin’ behind my back as I walk past them carrying it. TRAGIC!)
On closer inspection discovered it was being stretched and pulled to its very breaking point by the sheer volume of garbage I’d managed to cram inside it over the course of two days.
And I realized with a sigh that for all its, ahem, fashion-forwardness and, er, edgy, eye-catching style, this bag of mine has crossed that hair-thin line between spunky, bold accessory and frumpy, dumpy Mom-purse — stuffed to capacity with supplies for all of our around-town travel (oh it gets worse, WAY worse when we actually leave town for a few days!), the hobo’s gaping maw hanging open slack-jawed to display an oozing, disorganized junk-heap of familial treasures.
I hauled Purse-zilla up to the countertop last night and unloaded it, laughing. I’ve come a long way since the days of wallet, keys, lipstick and out-the-door, people:
Behold the contents of the Mom-purse.
wallet
keys
lipstick, lipgloss
a little pot of lip balm
a tube of lip sunscreen
Chapstick
blue figure eight teething ring
a small pair of pink sunglasses
4 pink wooden daisy-beads
3 lavender wooden heart-beads
one wooden faeirie-bead
an empty Tic-Tac box
a pen from a mutual fund company
travel-sized orange-ginger lotion
whoops, 3 more lavender heart-beads
emery board
7 quarters
a tiny measuring tape/keychain combo, price tag still affixed
a Pampered Chef catalog
a 1-gallon zip-top bag containing approximately a dozen baby-wipes
a 1-quart zip-top bag containing a handful of crushed goldfish crackers
cell-phone
another lipstick
brown sunglasses
two hair-appointment cards
a blue plastic spoon
a hair elastic
three girl-things and a receipt for 2 muffins, a cookie and 2 coffees dated July 1, 2009
a parking pass – Green Lot!
travel-sized baby lotion
eclipse breath mints – 4 left!
more orange-ginger lotion
travel-sized hand sanitizer
2 Luvs diapers
half-full sippy cup
half-full water bottle
camera
little cup of Cheerios
empty gallon-sized zip-top bag
5 individually-wrapped wet-wipes, courtesy of Famous Dave’s BBQ
my “transformer” hair brush
3 baseball ticket stubs
a sun hat
a little tub of unsweetened applesauce
half of a green crayon
3 Fisher-Price cars
and another set of keys, just in case (?!)
Alrighty! Now it’s your turn! What’s in YOUR Mom-purse?
This is hillarious! I always have all kinds of stuff in my mom bag! I won’t even get started on my work bag (or nurse bag) but here goes the mom stash:
changing pad, yellow sippy cup with water, puff snacks, baby wipes, sophie the giraffe toy, haba wooden duck toy, sunscreen, Desitin, 3 cloth diapers, change of clothes for baby, Game boy Advance, softlips chapstick, $3.75 in change, wallet, lipstick, ticket stub to Inglourious, makeup bag, 2 pens, mini hand sanitizer, ob tampon, cool mint listerine pocket pack, marc by marc jacobs sunglasses, and water bottle……wow
My mom-purse is technically my every day purse, and is my gorgeous hand-me-down Gucci with my wallet, checkbook, sunglasses, iPhone, headphones, tweezers, keys (with nail clippers), deodorant, a pen, my handy-dandy card holder and a bill to pay.
But our diaper bag is another story. I don’t even know whats in there, mostly because my husband, being the SAHD, is master of that terrain.
Sadly, I have given up on carrying a purse for the next few years, and have a pocket in the front of my diaper bag for my wallet, keys, and phone. But – I managed to (ahem) sucker my Mom into buying me a Vera Bradley baby bag, so at least in a few weeks when I get it, I will have a nice looking diaper bag to tote around.
Since I live in a fantabulous area with a all the shops I need, and more sunshine than my fair-haired child can handle, we walk A LOT. And I got tired of having to dig out my wallet, and my keys from the diaper-bag/purse and make sure I had them with me all the time. So I found the perfect solution for me: the 3-in-1 Wallet: place for cards and money (bills and coins), place for keys, place for cell phone (my camera fits there, too). I put a carabiner on the keyring, loop it on the stroller, and off we stroll! Grocery store? Ready. Bank? Set. Starbucks…already gone! :o)
(I hate to carry big bags).
(I keep a “My Royal Heiney” diaper clutch in the car stocked for emergencies, and a fully-stocked diaper bag for when we actually go somewhere in the car).
Happy Monday Megan!
Ha! Now I have an excuse-I-mean-name for the chaos that is my bag: “Mom-Purse!” Good cover! (‘Course, once my kiddos are grown and out of the house, I’ll have to think of a new name…)
You can read about my messy bag here: http://bugsandbunnies.blogspot.com/2008/04/writers-block.html
And Megan, that is a lovely purse back there behind all your stuff!
I used to not carry a purse at all and relied instead on a little zippered wallet (with dragonfly beading!) to carry my debit card, some cash, my library card, and our health insurance cards. I kept my chapstick in one pocket and my mobile phone in another. Then came the children and the diaper bag. For the first child, I used the diaper bag. For the second child, I said screw it and got a cute tote from 31 and an organizer.
Now in my “purse” is: That zippered wallet, my library books, three pens, a journal, my phone, chapstick, baby block (hello, it’s summer and you never know where you’ll wind up), two diapers, a ziploc of wipes, a romper for my 2 year old, a tampon, receipts from an oil change and new registration, a magna doodle, a container of fruit gummies, and contact solution. I am ready for anything!
well so far I managed to keep the ‘damage’ to a min. my purse usually has a couple of nappies, wet wipes, my wallet, teething gel and teether…i dont use make up myself so that is one chore off and i always forget to carry my chapstick around so its at home lol
So do you have shoulder pain, by any chance?? That’s a lot to tote around!
You will so love having this picture one day in the future, I bet. A wonderful and amusing slice of Real Life.
I have a coach bag that is my everyday bag and love it. I have to say that it contains nothing mom in it. My son is potty trained so less things to carry but when he was not we have a cute little diaper bag that I used. That is a lot of stuff to carry!
LOVE it!! I can’t go anywhere without my purse…..it’s full of necessities like diapers, wipes, phone, wallet, make up and stuff for those waits, like a deck of cards, a small electronic game, a puzzle book, and a pen and paper…not to forget the emergency stuff: pills, bandaids,neosporin, spare contacts, etc..and always a pair of neutral socks that can fit any of us. lol. You should see my car!
Purse? You actually carry a purse? I’ve given up and just carry the diaper bag. Cellphone, keys, and wallet go in my pockets or in the bag.
I never used a traditional diaper bag. Just a nice trendy pcoketbook type bag with a few pockets… Even as babies, I never carried things my friends did like changing pads,etc…. I also keep a bag in my car with a change of shirt for each kid, a few extra diapers and a pair of pants for the little guy. That’s it
organizer shoulder bag…
While looking for organizer shoulder bag on Friday I came across your blog and post about CrimethInc. Far East Blog ” More Convergence Accounts. I could not believe the amount of quality material that exists on this site. The site is extremely eye ca…
OK… I’m a packer..
(and I have a Vera Bradley large backpack to haul it all in… though sometimes I switch to the baby bag when I’m really packin’) 🙂 FYI: I have a preschooler and a toddler)…
2 sippys, 2 itzy ritzy snack bags, 2 sassy lunch containers (when we’ll be out for lunch), diapers (ha!), wipes, diaper balm (also used for boo boos), sanitizing wipes and spray, tissues, toliet seat protecters, an emergency bag (with boo-boo spray, band-aids, sunscreen, sunglasses for kids, bug spray, chapstick for me, lotion stick for kids, mints for me (with tylenol for me thrown in the same tin), extra snacks, snack bar for me), re-usable placemats/chalk board for kids, a couple of toys/magazines/books for kids, glasses I use for driving, and my hipster (coupons, female items, credit cards, store custumer cards, pics of kids). Whew… (and I’ve actually slimmed down some…)
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