The Baggage in my Bag

Maria from Mom of Three seeks Sanity tagged me in the “What’s In Your Bag” Meme.  I’ve been putting off completing it because of my shame of the state of the contents of my bag.  Disaster.  Just another reflection of the messes in my life.  The clutter.  I see women in stores open up their bags to remove their wallets and I catch a glimpse of the tidiness inside.  Each pocket has a purpose.  Each product has a place. Not my bag.  Usually when I remove my wallet, thirteen receipts come flying out with it.  When I take out my lipstick, a piece of a fruit bar is usually stuck to it.  Sand is in my hairbrush.  Crackers in my coin purse.

So here it is.  All laid out neatly on the table for you all to see.  The Baggage in my Bag.

All looks fine from the outside, doesn’t it?  My Michael Kors bag.  I love this bag.  I have two prerequisites when it comes to purchasing a new bag (which happens every 18-24 months usually).

1.  It must have outside pockets to easily reach my phone or a sippy cup

2. It must have two shoulder straps so that I can keep it on my shoulder when I open it up to remove something without it falling to the floor.

I also love the color.  Works for summer and winter and goes with everything.  I used to be the type to change bags from one day to the next… not anymore.  My bag is my bag is my bag.  I don’t use a diaper bag anymore either.  Diapers and wipes go right into the purse.  As excited as I was when Hannah was born to get a cute new diaper bag, when Luke was born, it never saw the light of day.

OK… onto the inside.

Starting at the top left and going across left to right:

– My black wallet.  Love how it zips shut.  No money, receipts or notes spilling out of it.  It has a separate zip up coin section too to keep the coins contained.  Beware when I open it… things just fly right out but when it’s in my purse, everything stays put.

– A toy baby bottle.  For those emergencies with Hannah’s baby dolls.

– My camera.  I always have it with me… you just never know when there will be a kodak moment.

– A large toy car.  One of three you’ll see there on the table.  Luke needs more than one to keep him happy.  One in each hand and one in his lap or on the table.

–  A plastic baggie with extra links from my new watch.  Just got a new watch for my birthday and had to have the links removed.  They would have sat in my bag for months had I not pulled them out for this exercise.

– Tube of eczema cream.  Hannah has terrible eczema and often has flare ups.  Cream to the rescue.

– A fruit bar.  I can’t believe the wrapper is actually closed.  I ALWAYS have snacks in my bag but usually they are half eaten.  This is a good day I guess.

– Another zippy little red car

– Two gray headbands.  My days usually start with my hair down.  After a couple of hours I put it up in a hairtie that is always around my wrist.  An hour after that I put a headband in to keep it ALL off my face.  Once Hannah sees me with a headband, she wants one so I always am sure to have two.

– Little pink hairtie for Hannah

– Movie stub from Shutter Island.  It was the last movie I saw in the theatre.  I can’t even tell you the one I saw before that.  Don’t see the movie.  It was awful.

– Seven cents in change.  What you can’t tell is that they were coated in stickiness.  I don’t know what spilled in my bag but something sticky enough to make me have to pry these three coins apart.

– My change purse.  I have a spare key in it and some change that overflowed from my wallet.  I love this little coin purse but feel like it’s a little too “cool” for me.

– Yet another little race car.

– Six colored pencils and one marker.  For emergency entertainment at a restaurant or in traffic.  I have paper in the car or I’m fine with the kids drawing on their hands.

– A receipt from Hannah’s gymnastics class.  It’s large pieces of paper like this that get wedged to the bottom of my purse and get pulled out unintentionally making a whirlwind of a mess at very inopportune times.  There was no reason for me to keep this receipt and three months later… here it sits.

– My two favorite lipglosses.  I wish I remembered more often to put it on.  Although it does give me extremely sticky lips and then it ends up in the kids hair or on their cheeks.  Sometimes it’s just not convenient to look attractive.

– A reminder card from the pediatrician. It’s from October.  I hope I remembered to go to that appointment…

And there you have it.  A peek inside my world.  The only thing missing was my iPhone.  It’s rarely in my bag unless I’m out of the house.  It’s usually in the palm of my hand.  Or on the couch next to me.  Or in my kids hands.  Or, as you may recall, in the toilet.

I now have the opportunity to tag a few other friends to divulge what is in their bags… have fun (and if you were already asked to do this… sorry!)

– Lindsey at A Design So Vast

– Kelly at the Miller Mix

– Corinne at Trains Tutus and Tea Time

– Nicki at Nicki’s Nook

– Aidan at Ivy League Insecurities