Momma’s Bag of Tricks

The other day, Claire helped me pick out a new purse. Before I had Claire, I would use a bunch of different purses for different occasions. Most of them were very small and carried my essentials: wallet, palm pilot, keys, phone, sun glasses, lipstick.

When I was in college, I had even fewer essentials and carried a little ID holder with attached keyring. It was so freeing! I was so mobile! Ahhh, the carefree days of being a college student.

But, times changed.

Then, I had a baby.

I refrained from carrying “everything including the kitchen sink,” and usually, I was able to get by with keeping the full-on diaper bag in the trunk. (It’s a special diaper bag in the form of a backpack, which my hubby picked out…very gender neutral and something he wouldn’t be embarrassed carrying.) If we were going to be miles and miles from the car, I would put my essentials in that and just use that as my bag.

Even then, we just needed a lot of diapers. I was breastfeeding, so we didn’t need f0rmula or bottles, and we just never got to the point where we needed all the other things that so many people cart around with their kids. We’re minimalistic, and it works for us.

Now that we’re in the toddler stage, Claire needs very little to get through an outside adventure, and they are different than when she was a baby.

I still keep a fully-stocked diaper bag in the trunk…just in case.

So, what does my new purse look like?

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It’s bright. It’s fun. It’s reversible! (It was cheap from Tar-jay.) It’s small, but not too small and yet big enough to hold all my essentials and Claire’s. And, there will be plenty of room for things for our summer trip, like the camera or my hubby’s sunglasses when he hands them to me and says, “here.” (I love that. *cough*)

Claire thinks it’s her purse because she picked it out. I don’t argue with her. It’s just easier that way. Luckily, she lets me wear it on my shoulder.

So, what’s in my new purse?

We have my essentials: wallet, palm pilot, phone, lipstick, sunglasses (in the hard case), keys, pen. (You’ll notice a hair-band on my keyring. This has been a lifesaver! It’s so easy to slip my keys on my wrist to get Claire in and out of the car!)

We have Claire’s essentials: her sunglasses.

Then, we have the “Emergency Pack.” That pack has things for all three of us, such as:

• An extra pen. (I hate using the pen that is provided at stores, so I always have an extra.)

• Band-Aids & Neosporin (for obvious reasons)

• Travel-size Aquaphor (a special healing cream)

• “Lip-stuff” (this is for my hubby. It will soon be replaced by his “favorite” kind because he keeps complaining about the generic kind I have. It was free! It was from my dentist. It’s all natural! But, it’s not his kind. He’s picky.)

• Sunscreen Stick (SO important here)

• A sample-pack of Desitin (diaper cream that came in some promotional thing and I thought would fit here perfectly)

• Antibacterial wipes (for obvious reasons)

• A small spoon and small fork (you wouldn’t think this would be an emergency item, but you’d be amazed at how many times we’ve used these.)

• A small pack of crayons (again, only seen as an emergency item if you’ve ever spent time with a bored toddler.)

• And, what you can’t see, in the back behind the clear divider: a folded up diaper, a ziplock of wet-wipes, and some of those cool blue scented poopy diaper trash-bags, and a travel pack of Kleenexes.

• I also have a secret stash (well, not so secret now, huh?) of feminine products that my hubby refers to lovingly as “liners and corks.” I’ll let you figure that one out.

• Also, I have a diaper pin. You know, one of those safety pins with the big plastic ends. You’d be amazed at the uses we’ve found for that. And, no, I keep my MacGyver’s Handbook to Raising Toddlers at home on my shelf.

This Emergency Pack is easy to handle, since it’s all contained. It’s in a clear plastic zippered pack that I confiscated from one of my travel bags. I can remove it and use a teeny tiny purse if I want. Or not. Because it never fails that if one of my children (the 2-yr old girl) is home with the babysitter, the other one in my charge (the 35-yr old male) needs something.

Now, I feel the urge to give a Public Service Announcement about what I have in my purse and car. I don’t carry my Social Security Card with me. I have my ID behind the clear section of my wallet, but I have Claire’s picture in front of that, so that my personal info is hidden from view unless specifically requested. I have photo copies of the fronts and backs of all the cards in my purse safely stored at home, and I only carry essential cards with me. What about the car? The most valuable things we keep in the car (besides the car seat) is the diaper bag in the trunk. We also keep a folded up stroller and a travel booster seat in the trunk. I also keep a hair brush and breath mints in the center console. We don’t let the trash pile up in the car, and we don’t leave anything that looks remotely interesting in the car.

In a former life, my hubby had two cars stolen. He was able to retrieve the vehicles, but learned a valuable lesson: if you’re going to leave it in your car, be willing to never see it again.

So, there ya have it: a quick peek into this Momma’s Bag of Tricks.