10 Essential Items Every Mom Should Carry in Her Purse

Every time I open up my purse and curiously peer inside, I am reminded of Tim O’Brien’s story, “The Things They Carried.” In O’Brien’s story we are told of the physical objects that the Vietnam soldiers carried with them in their backpacks as they went off into combat – love letters, worn photographs, the New Testament, mosquito repellant, even a pebble. All of these objects revealed the soldiers’ priorities, and more pointedly, their emotional state. Glancing back inside my purse I see an empty fruit snack wrapper, a stray cheerio, strawberry lip balm, a tiny plastic Care Bear, a pen without a cap, used tissues – all with a story to tell, not a particularly appetizing story, but a story just the same. The story, or rather the message, is -this – let’s get ourselves organized, shall we? lest someone mistake us for a harried, sleep-deprived, time-starved mother of two. We can’t let that little truth, um, I mean misconception get out. So here is my solution. Aside from the basics of wallet (hopefully brimming with cash), cell phone, and keys, here are 10 things every mom should have on her person whenever she steps out the door.

1. Lip Gloss/Lip Balm: Dry lips are uncomfortable and, well, creepy looking. People don’t want to see them. Kids don’t want to be kissed by them. You don’t want to have them.

2. Small pad of paper and a few crayons or a pen: This not only provides the kids with a ready form of entertainment, but you can also jot down a quick thought or to do list before those thoughts evaporate amid the soundtrack of your life – “Mama? MamaâÂ?¦ Mama, look at me! Look Mama. Mama, are you looking? Mama? Look! Look Mama!”

3. Antibacterial Moist Towelettes (individually packaged): Sticky. Little. Fingers. Touching. Everything. Enough said.

4. Snacks: The snack options are limitless: crackers, cheerios, fruit snacks, etc. Fill a few small snack baggies or plastic containers with these tasty treats so that when the inevitable grumpy, “I’m hungry” behavior sets in you have something on hand. Oh, and pack a few for the kids too.

5. Bottled water: You and the kids need something to help wash down all those goldfish crackers.

6. Contact cards: Even if you are not a “working” mom or a “working the kind of job that necessitates business cards” mom, you really should make your own contact cards at home. Buy some blank business cards that you can print off of your home printer, and be sure to list your vital stats: your name, your title (i.e. Faulkner & Flannery’s mom), address, and phone number. You never know when you might hit it off with another parent and their child at the park or story time, and this will make the exchange of information while wrangling children much, much easier.

7. Tissues: Ahhh Choooo! Need I say more?

8. Sun glasses: When paired with the above listed lip-gloss, you can appear downright put together, in a “natural beauty” sort of way.

9. Pain reliever: You are out with your children . . . right? Rushing here and there, making play date connections, shopping, cajoling, economizing, lugging, thinking, rethinking, etc. I need a pain reliever just writing about it.

10. Instant Hand Sanitizer (travel size): The world is a dirty, dirty place. But enough about people’s flossing habits. Bah-dum bum! (You can catch me at Tony’s Clam Shack all this week!) Seriously though, do you really want to bring home Sarah’s cold, Ryan’s pink eye, and Noah’s odd-shaped rash? The old saying “Prevention is better than cure” is an old saying for a reason. Heed its advice.

Stepping out into the world with children in-tow is an exercise in patience, ingenuity, and humility at best and a poorly managed traveling freak show at worst. Stock your purse with these 10 essentials and not only will you find leaving the house a much less daunting task, you may even return home headache and germ free.