Mama Is Not A Llama, Or A Pack Mule!

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.

It's In The Bag

After reading the blog post "Ladies, What do you have in your purse?" at Journey of Life a couple of months ago, I can't seem to stop thinking about purses.  (Although I've never really been able to stop thinking about purses.  I'm a little obsessed.)  But more recently it's been about what's in my purse, what other women keep in their purses, and the size of the purses.

I've always been a big purse gal.  Back in high school I often heard the question "is that a purse or an overnight bag? (suitcase, luggage, etc)"  It was kind of my thing.  Big purses and big earrings.  That was my personal fashion statement. 

Now I see women toting around those cute little purses which are hardly any bigger than my wallet; and I envy them.  How do they get everything they need into that adorable little pocket?  And what am I hauling around that they don't seem to need?  I would love to have a tiny little handbag.  I gaze longingly at them in the store, consider giving one a go.  Then I remember the contents of my own bag.

Right now in my purse I have:
* wallet
* cell phone
* personal organizer
* pencil pouch (for my assortment of pens.  I'm also a little obsessed with pens)
* 2 pairs of sunglasses
* make up pouch (with powder compact, mirror, lip balm, nail file, and a few lip glosses)
* travel size hand sanitizer
* purse pack of tissues
* hand lotion
* asthma inhaler
* tic tacs
* multi-tool (one never knows when she might need a pocket knife, pliers, can opener, screwdriver, scissors, or cork screw)
* a Nutri-grain bar
* various assorted shopping lists, receipts, and empty wrappers (those will be gone now, since this inventory has inspired a cleaning out of the purse)

Good grief!!  No wonder my back hurts so often!  Try as I might, I can't seem to whittle it down much more than that.  I absolutely need the wallet, cell phone, and inhaler.  But things get a little more complicated when I start looking at the rest of the collection.

I happen to strongly hold to the idea that I need my makeup pouch  (at least the lip balm and powder) and tic tacs.  Those are non-negotiable in my opinion. 

I know... I should be using my phone as an organizer.  And maybe one day I'll get the hang of that and be able to ditch the personal organizer.

And I probably don't need all those pens, or the pouch to hold them.  But that's going to take addressing a whole 'nother personal issue before that happens.  (Did I mention I'm a little obsessed with pens?)

Two pairs of sunglasses you ask?  Why yes.  Because I am sure as the world going to wear one pair into the house, take them off and set them on the kitchen counter or the dresser, forget they are there, leave the house again at some point forgetting they are not in my purse, and need a pair of sunglasses.  This happens often enough that I firmly believe the two pair strategy is best.

As for all the other paraphernalia - I may suffer from "but if I don't have it, I'm going to need it" syndrome.  But I just know, the day I stop carrying around a multi-tool, or a pack of tissue, or hand sanitizer - the very next day I am going to have a screwdriver emergency, a sneezing fit, or well, a sneezing fit.  No one wants that to happen.

What's in your bag right now?  What do you have to carry in your purse?  and what could you probably get by without having?  Do you carry a big purse, or are you able to carry one of those cute little handbags?