I just bought a new purse/bag that I have been eyeing for a few months at the motherland (Target). I finally used my birthday gift card from my parents (Thanks, Mom & Dad!), broke down and bought it. Isn’t it cute???

I also got a great deal on a new wallet (clearance for $4.94! I love you, Target!!) that I clearly needed since my previous wallet was drowned in spray sunscreen while we were on vacation. All of my credit cards were stuck together and de-activated, and let’s just say the wallet was not returning to any sort of usable state again.

So, as I was unloading my old bag and wallet and putting the “necessary” items into my new bag, I was reminded of a blog that I read awhile back where the mommy “emptied” her purse for all to see. And I thought you might enjoy a peek into chaos that lives in my bag on any given day. I’m betting that most of you Moms won’t be surprised at the contents, that it in fact looks a lot like your bag, too!

Contents of this Mommy’s bag:
1. package of wipes
2. empty wrapper from last package of wipes (It was emptied probably a week ago.)
3. 2 diapers
4. cute little pouch (It is called diapees and wipees – and no, neither were actually in the pouch.)
5. a tube of Zwitsal (Dutch diaper creme leftover from our vacation, but works surprisingly well.)
6. wallet (The sunscreen-soaked one. Mmmm…smells like vacation. Also devoid of any money because of vacation!)
7. measuring tape (For measuring armoires, of course! We already bought one, a week ago.)
8. Balance bar (Only the honey yogurt peanut ones, please!)
9. half-eaten Balance bar (A. loves “bahs!” But tires of them after about 4 bites.)
10. 21 receipts to be entered into Quicken (See #6 above. Therefore, not actually in wallet.)
11. 2 dry cleaner pick-up slips (Don’t even need those to pick up dry cleaning at our place.)
12. pack of post-it notes (For my budding Picasso. Girl Scout turned Mom…always prepared!)
13. pair of kid’s chopsticks (Not sure where these came from, but could potentially have many uses!)
14. lip balm (1/2 of it dug out by little fingers.)
15. first-aid kit (Tylenol, baby Tylenol, baby medicine syringe, 2 Dora band-aids)
16. bottle of Purell (I know, I know…don’t let the kid drink it!)
17. box of business cards (The coolest cards, evah! J. got them for me with my flickr photos for Christmas.)
18. empty Tylenol bottle (Was going to either recycle it or refill it…not sure which.)
19. 5 pens (Why have one when you can have 5!)
20. stickers from Trader Joes (God love TJs, but if I find another monkey sticker on my butt I’m going to have to boycott the place.)
21. $1.72 in change (Again with the problematic wallet…)
22. 3 books of stamps (Each of them have like 3 stamps in them.)
23. Huggies diaper coupon (Hey! It hasn’t expired yet…it could possibly get used yet.)
24. photo insert (You’d think with all of the photos I take I could put a couple of photos of the girls in my wallet…I have pics of my nieces, instead. They are only about 2 years old!)
25. 1/2 roll of Tums (You are supposed to take a couple of Tums before a bikini wax, it helps so you don’t feel sick to your tummy. Too much information? Sorry.)
26. one pair of sunglasses (Only my second pair of the season so far. Another reason to buy cheap ones at Target.)
27. another pair of purple heart-shaped sunglasses (About 3 sizes too small for my head, though.)
28. packet of baby sunscreen (From last summer – you think it is still effective?)
29. Tide pen (What can I say about the most-used thing in my bag? Truly a lifesaver between me and 2 messy girls.)
30. 2 tubes of lipstick (Not that I ever really get a chance to put it on, but it is there…giving the illusion that I am G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S. Just like Fergie.)
31. 3 bobby pins (Mostly for my hair, sometimes for Em’s.)
32. one pair of iPod headphones (My iPod is NEVER in my bag, though. So I don’t use these headphones. Ever.)
33. 2 bottled water caps (Yes, just the caps. Don’t ask.)

Now to decide what truly needs to make it into my new bag. I’m thinking some of it can be tossed. What do you think?