Does Size Really Matter?

I am a bag lady. I don't mean to be. But, if you have kids, or maybe even if you don't, you've surely noticed the truth to my 'stuff accommodation theory'. It goes something like this. The larger the bag you are carrying, the more stuff (or crap as I like to call it) you will naturally somehow acquire to fill said bag.

For example, you are carrying a tiny little clutch containing only your wallet, keys, and phone. Immediately you will discover that you need a tissue (or 8). You've undoubtedly carried a box of tissues with you every day for the past 2 months and never even opened it. Yet today, day one without tissues, you find yourself with a runny nose, and not a tissue in sight.The tissues are a spring board to all of the other things you will learn that you need to carry in the next few days. You'll soon move to a slightly bigger bag to accommodate those few new 'necessities'. But inevitably, the new small'ish' bag will become overrun with receipts, paper scraps, and yes, admit it, even some trash!

And so, we move on and graduate to a larger bag. Oh, we vow to keep it clean and neat. We promise to keep the stuff to a minimum. Does it work? Of course not. Before you know it, you are carrying what can only be described as a small duffle bag, and wondering why you can't seem to find anything EVER!? For some, like me, this is how it all starts....My youngest was finally to the point where I don't fee like I need to carry a huge diaper bag anymore. I could keep a few diapers in the glove compartment of the minivan, and I have a little backpack that is always in the trunk with an emergency change of clothes and some wipes. Surely, I'll never be so far from civilization that anything else I might need, I could not quickly acquire at the local drugstore or Target.

So, I switched to a smaller bag. A tiny bag. I kept my keys, wallet, and phone in it. Not a single other thing would fit. Freedom! So, when I took the baby in to the mall and he pooped, I had to run out to the car that was parked a mile away in winter, to get the stuff to change him. Bah! So, we got home and I switch to a bag that can hold 1 emergency diaper and a thin wipes case. Next time we are out, we venture to a diner. Both baby and preschooler are crying for snacks, crayons, and other things to occupy them while we wait for food. While the waitress does her best to accommodate us, I know all to well that if I had my diaper bag, I'd have snacks, crayons, even those cute little stick-on placemats that double as coloring sheets! We go home and I switch to an even larger bag with all of these 'necessities' in it.

Even now, as my kids are older and are needing less "stuff". I am now carrying what can only be described as a diaper bag (albeit a stylish brown leather one), with my wallet, phone, and keys in it. It's okay though, my time to give up the bag will come- possibly when the kids go to college.