My Mom Bag

Okay, so I didn't get the "mom" haircut {well I don't think I did, I picture it looking like the brady bunch mom} I didn't get the Mom car {although if I could get a NEW car that would be nice} I don't wear Mom clothes {I guess when I wear them they are Mom clothes, but you know what I mean} But one Mom thing I couldn't avoid was my bag. Whether I call it my diaper bag, my purse, or just "the bag" it screams "MOM" I love it though. Where else can I find a first aid kit, a diaper station, a mess clean up zone, money, and snacks all in one place? I didn't really realize how crazy my bag was until my Grandma was amazed at what I had hidden in there. From toys to wipes to cheerios I always seemed to have something on hand for my little man when we went out. I never really thought about it, but its true, its a great bag. Although to others it may just look like a bag full of random junk, to me it is my little baby station on the go. Who doesn't need wipes every now and then {or every couple of minutes if you have a toddler} and it is nice to be the one to offer up band- aids when someone falls down. I have actually done a pretty good job at keeping my bag to a minimum. When I would first venture out with my son I had a HUGE diaper bag, being a first time Mom I believed I needed everything, I mean everything my son might need whenever I left the house. After a couple of months of lugging this giant bag around I finally decided I didn't need 10 diapers and his whole baby  medicine cabinet everyday. In my son's first year I have had three diaper bags, and my latest is the best in my opinion. For awhile I tried to really scale down, I was using a sleek little shoulder bag I used to carry on when I traveled. I soon realized it just wasn't quite big enough so I had to move up a bit in size. The funny thing is I don't actually have a "diaper bag" it is really a "cooler" bag, it is a great size, I love the pattern, and the inside has a great lining that can easily be wiped clean. And it has a zipper, oh wow, don't buy a diaper bag without a good closure or you will regret it, I left the zipper open the other day and had to bend in a funny way to catch my son {a little Mommy yoga} and everything fell out, not a pretty site. I got everything back into the bag while trying to keep my little guy next to me and quickly zipped it up! My mom bag also holds something very important to me, my coupon wallet. It looks like a large wallet, but is actually filled with little dividers and all my most precious coupons. This may seem a little nuts but it has come in handy. The other day while at Target I passed by the clearance section and noticed a few items I had coupons for, and with the clearance prices I got them for free! If I hadn't of had my coupons with me I wouldn't have come back just for free deodorant and soap, but why not grab some freebies while I was there anyway? Oh how I love my coupons, and I am glad they have a safe place, in my coupon wallet, secure in my mom bag. I think of the day I will have to give up my mom bag, I will be a little sad to loose all that space and all my little extras, I am sure I will be happy to use my actual purse again {especially since its a Juicy my hubby bought me} but it sure won't hold everything I now think I need with me. No need to worry about that now, I will surely need my Mom bag for a few more years....and who knows maybe they'll be a baby #2 in the future and I may need to keep my perfect Mom bag even longer, we'll see. For now I will enjoy my bag and be happy to offer up random helpful items when people least expect it. And of course I will enjoy the fact that my mom bag holds so many items to cheer my son, because he is the whole reason behind the mom bag, without my little prince it would just be a cooler.

Kelly Callahan