When I was a new mom, one of the biggest changes was how much stuff I always had to take with me. My purses that previously held all I needed in life were not bigger than a piece of paper. After having a baby, I couldn’t leave the house to go five minutes away to the grocery store without taking a bag that made it look like I was going on an overnight trip. Packing the diaper bag became a part-time job in itself.
And if you did not pack the diaper bag every time, than the baby God’s knew this. If you didn’t pack a clean outfit- baby spit up over everything. If you forgot the binky- baby needed to suck. If you didn’t have enough diapers- well, you can imagine that. Probably every new mom does this once, and only once. Then the diaper bag becomes your reassurance. When it is you and baby out, and against the world, the one thing that can save you from every potential disaster is your properly packed, 25 pound diaper bag. (Yes, the diaper bag weighs more than the baby for several months.)
So three and a half-years after having my last baby, why am I still lugging stuff around? I don’t have a “diaper bag” any more- now I have reusable Envirosaxs, which can hold even more stuff than a diaper bag, and weighs more than my youngest child. Instead of diapers and clean little baby outfits, I am transporting books, toys, sports shirts, water bottles, soccer balls, jackets, boots, gym shoes, hats, snacks, and the list goes on.
I figured out something the other day. This never stops. I had it easy with the diaper bag. From here on out, the “diaper bag” only gets bigger and changes names. When the boys start playing sports regularly, then it will be a duffel, or sports bag. As they get bigger, the equipment gets bigger, and the “diaper bag” gets less and less fashionable. Last time I checked, Kate Spade doesn’t have a soccer duffel bag line.
I realized the diaper bag’s job is to train you that you can never, and I mean never, leave your house without some sort of equipment bag. I think the diaper bag should be renamed The Mom Equipment Bag. Because diapers are only the beginning. Your real job as a mom, is the equipment manager.
6 replies on “The Mom Equipment Bag”
Oh I hear you! Tonight my husband and I packed for a weeklong trip across the country to visit family and friends. My son has 3 bags just for him: 2 diaper bags (to hold enough bottles, snacks, books, toys, diapers, wipes, and a change of clothes to last the 2 flights & layover) and a small suitcase to fit his clothes for the week (which we had to pack with twice the # of clothes you’d think he’d need, to account for spit up, food spills, and peeing through the pants). Makes me tired just re-typing it all!
I completely agree with you. I have two children. A son who is seven and a daughter who is four. I take enough stuff with me when we go out somewhere to supply four-five kids but you have to. If you don’t, that’s when any and everything happens and goes wrong and you’re crying as much or as angry as the kids are.
LOL After my first son, I realized that diaper bags are useless. They’re not big enough in the areas you really need them to be, they don’t hold as much as you’d really like, and they are awkward as all get out. With the birth of the second son, we went down a different path. We’d already decided we would be babywearing, so we bought a backpack instead. Two big roomy pockets, and two smaller pockets on the front, and two pockets on the side. I can tuck the Moby in it when I’m not wearing it, and there’s still room for clothes, diapers, changing pad, wipes, camera, snacky-teethy things, toys, and water bottles (in the side pockets). Best of all, it goes on the back, so no more knocking stuff down as you move to close to an endcap at the grocery store. 😀
Laura,
My first diaper bag was actually a backpack too. It is still in the back of my Jeep- it’s kind of graduated to the first aid kit. 🙂 But I couldn’t fit my purse in it too, with all the baby stuff, so I ended up with a big diaper bag. I still have it- it’s very cute & doesn’t look like a diaper bag. I use it for my carry on for plane trips now. 🙂
I completely agree with you. We’d already decided we would be babywearing, so we bought a backpack instead. Two big roomy pockets, and two smaller pockets on the front, and two pockets on the side. I can tuck the Moby in it when I’m not wearing it, and there’s still room for clothes, diapers, changing pad, wipes, camera, snacky-teethy things, toys, and water bottles (in the side pockets). Best of all, it goes on the back, so no more knocking stuff down as you move to close to an endcap at the grocery store.
Hmmm…that sounds like fun…LOL. I am not a mother yet but I love hearing the stories, learning from you guys and God Willing becoming a mother one day!
-Tammy