Photo A Day, Day 15: In My Pocket/Purse

As the mother of two small children, the contents of my pocket and/or purse are varied and unpredictable. So when I realized as I was coming home from a dinner out with my family that I had yet to write today’s photo blog, I decided to take the “Come As You Are” approach and simply empty out my bag as is, with no adding or removing of items for the sake of a more interesting (or less embarrassing) blog entry.

This is the bag I brought to dinner tonight (the Chapstick is shown to indicate scale):

As you can see, this is a large but not enormous purse; about 12 inches across by 8 inches deep. But it holds more than you might think. These are the exact contents of that purse:

In this purse, I had two Kindle Fires, one with case; one diaper, size 4; one pull-up, size 6; three Matchbox cars and one Matchbox helicopter; two ballpoint pens; thirty-seven cents in change; a tube of cherry Chapstick; a box of Altoid mints; a hair elastic; a tube of lipstain/lipgloss; a bracelet; my cell phone; a pair of boy’s pants; a Richard Scarry board book; a barrette; a Kleenex pocket pack, nearly full; my wallet; four starlight mints; nine assorted crayons; and three used Kleenexes, not shown (you’re welcome).

Armed with this assortment, I could survive pretty much any unplanned outing with my children of less than a 6-hour duration. The cars, book, and crayons will keep them occupied for short periods of time and the Kindle Fires for longer; the mints (both kinds) will both stave off hunger and reward good behavior; the diapers, pants, and Kleenex will get us through most hygienic emergencies; the phone and wallet will get us through most other emergencies; and the bracelet and lipstain allow me to retain my grace and poise in any kind of emergency.

And that’s what’s in my purse.