Yesterday I talked about the large size of my purse, and the insane amount of items I tote around with me on any given day. What I failed to mention is that things have improved in that area over the years. As the age of my children increased, there was a directly related decrease to the amount of cargo I haul around in my handbag.
Let's take a stroll down memory lane to when the offspring were much smaller...
Their little lives start and Mommy is required to get a diaper bag for all baby's paraphernalia. How can one itty-bitty little being require so much STUFF? Just for a trip outside the house? What no one told me before becoming a parent is that baby's apparently need to take everything they own with them in a bag everytime they leave the nest. (Maybe that's where it starts - maybe some of us never outgrow that phenomenon.)
As the offspring grew out of toddler hood and into the preschool years, they slowly got to the point where I needed to carry less things. Potty training meant the end of packing diapers, wipes, a changing pad, and baggies for soiled diapers. Teeth came in and I no longer needed the variety of teether rings. Children became more mobile and could run around to play, so I didn't need a collection of toys and those little linky rings to keep them attached. One day I finally found that I was able to put away the diaper bag and just bring my purse for shopping trips, trips to the park, etc.
However, there are still items one needs to have handy as a parent. And where do those things now go? Right into mommy's purse, of course! Among the wallet, phone, keys, lip glosses, and other grown up items - there are pocket packs of handi-wipes, a baggie or two of cheerios or goldfish crackers, maybe a few random cartoon character band-aids, a juice box or child sized water bottle, and anything else I had "just in case".
Tossed in with the "needed" items were a dizzying collection of matchbox cars, polly pockets, beanie babies, and Happy Meal toys that the little one HAD to bring along, but soon got tired of carrying and handed over to me - Mama the pack mule - to go into the purse.
The good news is that they get even bigger, they start carrying all their own things. Maybe they get their own purse, or a backpack. Or cargo pockets to tuck things away inside. One day, you realize that everything in your purse actually belongs to YOU!
The bad news is that at point you can no longer blame the ginormous size or medicine ball weight of your purse on your offspring. It's all you now.
*sighs* I'm still trying to make the transition from diaper bag to a real adult purse, but I fear I have years to go, lol.
ReplyDeleteIt does seem to take forever when trying to make that transition. But before you know it, the diaper bag will be gone and you might even kind of miss it. (probably not)
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