A couple nights ago a man made a comment about having a lot to carry, and a woman said that for her, that problem was solved by her handbag. Then he asked, “what is a woman anyway?” My answer – someone whose pants pockets are smaller than her phone.
It seems to me that the size of our bags is directly proportional to our age. I remember those tiny things I carried in my twenties. They fit my wallet, my phone (which was much smaller back then), a lip gloss, and a couple keys. I liked fun keychains, but could only use one at a time. Sometimes for nights out I would pull out a credit card and my ID, and leave the bulky wallet at home.
Then I had kids…
The diaper bag was my bag. There is no point in having the bulky encumbrance of carrying a purse as well. The diaper bag is an accessory for Mom, not the baby. So it’s cool to go as stylish as you want, or at least as stylish as Dad is still willing to carry. I deliberately bought a huge wallet that would easily make itself apparent at the bottom of that bulky bag. That wallet was basically my purse. My phone even fit in it. For those fleeting moments when I went out kid-free, I got a small cross-body bag that fit that bulky wallet so it was hands-free.
Once the diaper bag years were over and I could return to normal purses, they still needed to be a decent size. I needed to be prepared for “Mom, I need a tissue”, and “Mom, I want a snack”, and “Hon, do you have any ibuprofen?”. Plus I threw my water bottle in there. I’m sure my chiropractor wasn’t too happy about the weight that added. Stainless steel, double-wall insulated – but hey, I like my water cold! The freedom of a bigger bag was nice, as was the ability to be prepared for anything. It became a habit. Even though slowly over time my bag became mostly just for me again, making the size not so necessary anymore.
The problem is that when we have all that space, we tend to expand to fill it. I’m not the kind of person to swap bags on the regular, so I will carry the same one for months. It can become hard to find the things I want. My phone is the big kind, in part because it’s easier to find in my bag. My keys are deliberately big too. I have several keychains, and a few keys I don’t even know what they’re for. I could remove them, but they help me find my keys more easily in my bag! I know, I know. There must be a better way. Sometimes my bag becomes a big mess of crumpled receipts, lost pens, and beauty products that if I can’t find one because it’s lost in the bottom of the bag, I throw in another one. I even have a small bag in there to contain the small essentials, but find I never bother to go digging through it. I do clear out my purse regularly, but I’d much rather prevent the problem in the first place.
My solution – downsize my bags. Instead of making my essentials bigger, it makes more sense to make my bag smaller. One pen and pencil – nice ones I really like. No smaller bags to organize my stuff – only the essentials and have them accessible. This is one of my style goals for this year. At least my poor shoulders will thank me – as well as my chiropractor.
How about you? Where are you as far as purse size?
