Nine Months More

The Evolution of Parenting: The Baby Bag

Like buying a pram, buying a baby bag is one of the defining moments of becoming a parent.  As a first time Mum, I bought the biggest baby bag possible. I knew that this bag had to hold all that I needed. What did I need? As a first time Mum, I needed everything.

AJ was born and I was home only a week before going stir crazy and needed an escape. Mum came over and together the four of us went down to the local shopping centre for a coffee. I say four of us because there was Mum, AJ, me and the baby bag. For the one hour adventure I packed so many things that the bag could barely close. Never mind that this shopping centre housed Target, Kmart, Coles and Safeway. I had to have everything. Just in case.

When PJ came along, there were now two babies I needed to pack everything for. Just in case. But my beautiful monogrammed baby bag was heavy. It was bulky. To find something, I had to take everything out first. Then put everything back in. Very soon, this bag became nothing more than a nuisance. Here the evolution of parenting began. I evolved from the oversized, baby bag to the bright coloured, two pockets Toy Story 3 back pack, purchased on a whim. It was my attempt to downsize my need to have everything.

Immediately, half the contents from the first baby bag were ditched. What a sense of freedom. I felt so liberated, so hip – so much like a mummy with toddlers and not one with babies. Until, very quickly, the zip broke on the smaller pocket. A hole appeared in the bottom corner. Through that hole my excitement drained. While I did love Woody and Buzz, I did not love this bag.

Baby Bag

One rainy Sunday afternoon, we found ourselves in Fitzroy. We sat down to enjoy a coffee. PJ was asleep in the pram and AJ was happy to play on my phone. We indulged in hip, trendy, Melbourne life. Consumed in this sense of fantasy we walked out of the café into the Crumpler store across the road. There amidst their gorgeous bags I convinced myself that I absolutely needed to upgrade the baby bag.

Immediately in the car, I transferred the contents of the Toy Story 3 back pack into the new bag. It was love. I justified the purchase – it’s a gorgeous backpack – I can use it forever. Well, forever lasted a year and the nag of parenting evolution began to nip again. It seemed the lifting of the mummy fog brought with it a sense of clarity. All around me I saw mums with no baby bag at all, just an oversized shoulder bag. I wanted to be part of this new breed of mummy.

The new bag needed to house only some of the things: two water bottles, one bag of wipes, mobile phone and wallet. So in the same store where I purchased my first baby bag, I purchased my new beautiful, monogrammed hand bag. I had joined the new breed of mummies and so the evolution of parenting continues.

What bag do you carry?

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