I liked the coming topics from the Ladies of Hive challenge, so I decided to separate them into two different articles because it would have made one huge article.
As you know, I've been a mom for a while now. I have an incredibly inquisitive, wonderful, and playful little boy at home. When he came along my life changed. Before he came along, having a slightly bigger pocket and stashing the 3-4 things I needed to go out was enough, but now the game has changed and I don't go out without my "favorite backpack".
I'll tell you now about the things I needed most and have always carried with me before and after the little man came into my life.
Before the appearance of the little prince!
When you don't have many responsibilities to any other being the items you need to go out are few. On many occasions, I've gone out without even a handbag. It turned out not to be such a necessary item for me. Especially since I also had a few times where I forgot it at work... my most needed items were in my pocket and it turned out that I just forgot the "wrap" of those important items.
I carried a few things in my handbag that I needed and couldn't "survive" without.
- Telephone - because I don't wear a watch and I often look for the time so I'm not late when I'm going somewhere or to keep track of how much time is left until my vacation ends.
- I'm a smoker, so cigarettes and a lighter were important to have with me.
- Keys - I lived alone and if I somehow forgot my keys there was no way I could get home - the entrance to our block is locked and I'd be napping outside my block waiting for a neighbor to come by and open the door for me (and when I was night shift until about 2 AM I think I'd have to wait quite a while..).
- Party - Purse. Since mobile payment is not that common in Bulgaria yet, at the very least I need to carry some cash in me or at least a debit card.
- Water. I almost always carry a 330 ml bottle of water with me because when I'm at work I completely forget to drink water and I remember after I leave the office and I had to buy a bottle of water on the way because I feel dehydrated.
- Since the handbag is a little black hole, in mine you could find makeup, umbrella, comb, hand cream sometimes a small screwdriver, wet wipes, biscuits, and whatnot. And it all fit in a 30x20x20 handbag I can't imagine it fitting in a bag that small now.
My life changed after my little mister came along.
That little bag until recently proved too small for my needs and I replaced it with a small backpack.
What must-haves are in it?
- At least one diaper
- Baby water bottle, sometimes a water bottle for me too
- Kids biscuits, solettes or any other things he eats because I don't know how long we'll be out and when he'll get the urge to eat something
- "Soap bubble device**"
- A little box of chalks
- Wet towels because after the chalk we're all in multiple colors
- Keys, money, cigarettes, phone, they're a repeat of the above list.
- Small strollers because the little one likes them.
- A little yellow ball with a smile - it's like a little emoticon
- Patches, not that we use them for their intended purpose, but the little one likes to "treat" me when we're out.
- Mask because you never know if we'll walk into a store while we're out.
Time changes us and our priorities change. As we get older we start to have more needs and have to carry bigger bags with us. I remember when I was a kid when my mom was picking out a new purse, she insisted it had to be a stackable size that could fit her stuff + a loaf of bread and 2 buckets of yogurt. Those words of hers have stuck in my mind because you really don't know if you need to buy something while you're out if you'll have somewhere to put it, and sometimes it's as small as a bucket of yogurt and it's not worth carrying just that in a whole bag...
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