What ISN'T in my bag! (What's In Your Bag?)

Member Name: krazykat2005

Product:	What's In Your Bag?
Date:	08/01/06 (126 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Prepared for most eventualities.

Disadvantages: Bad neck and shoulder from lugging round a load of stuff!

-- How I got my bag --

I have a collection of stylish and impractical handbags that are now gathering dust in the attic.

The reason for this is the recent addition to our family in the form of a peeing, pooping, crying baby (yes, we are still at that stage where this is all he does, sleeping is not on the list because it really feels like he doesn’t at the moment). Anyway, I quickly realised that if I wanted to go anywhere with a baby I would need to start using a PRACTICAL bag. No more sequins or cute flower designs, no more satin or denim materials, I needed a bag that could carry half of everything I had in my house for the baby with a little space left over for mum.

Quite fortunately, I had this realisation BEFORE I gave birth to Oliver and not halfway through a shopping trip – changing a dirty nappy can sometimes take several items, which I imagine that if I had to buy them every time I went out would become a real drain on my meagre finances.

I waddled around Kiddicare, Boots and several other shopping establishments before coming across a bag that I liked and (more importantly) did not cost fifty pounds for what is essentially just a bag with a couple of extra waterproof compartments! Don’t get me wrong, I WOULD pay fifty pounds (or more, though don’t tell my loving partner this) for a bag, but only if it was one of those special bags – the kind you just HAVE to have regardless of whether it means you are going to be able to afford to eat until next payday. A glorified changing bag did not fall into this category! (Plus my loving partner was with me at the time and his eyes nearly popped out when I told him how much said bags cost)

I found my bag in Toys’R’Us. It was the only one and was tucked away at the back of the bottom shelf. I had a task getting to it as I was (very) heavily pregnant and bending in the middle was not one of my strong points, but I got it out and to my delight found that it had a loose thread and a small stain on the front. Knowing that I could quite easily sort these small problems out once I gotten the bag home, I put my bargaining face on and started waddling towards the customer service desk. The poor teenager behind the counter didn’t stand a chance and I managed to get my bag for just under nine pounds!

-- Description and features of my bag --

~ My bag is a rectangular shoulder bag.
~ It is made of a black, wipe clean material.
~ There is a zip pocket on the back of the bag, which is quite roomy.
~ All the fastenings in the bag are Velcro, and are already covered in bit of fluff.
~ Opening the bag, there is a very large main compartment (sadly not broken up into a couple of sections which would be very useful). There is a well padded changing mat in here and a waterproof pocket which is attached to the bag via a removable clip.
~ On the front of the main compartment there are a variety of pockets and nets for holding bits and pieces, some elasticated, some not.

-- What is actually in my bag --

Where to start? This bag is pretty large and it is still absolutely overflowing with stuff. I’ll start in the main compartment…

1. Several nappies. I need several as Oliver is a poop factory and he has also perfected the art of waiting until I am just putting a fresh nappy on before letting loose a stream of wee meaning I have to start the whole process again. These nappies are Huggies, with Winnie the Pooh pictures all over them. What the point is in having said pictures on newborn nappies is, I don’t know! The only person who can appreciate them is the person changing the nappy and they will usually be concentrating on the awful smell and not on how pretty the nappy looks. And can I just add how much I hate Winnie the Pooh! You are almost guaranteed that if you go to any house with a baby that there will be Winnie the Pooh stuff plastered everywhere. Unless you come to my house where you will only find it on the nappies, which I grudgingly buy only because of triple points in Boots.

2. Three baby vests and three sleepsuits. For Ollie’s strategically timed wees… he manages to get it everywhere!

3. Small pack of nappy sacks. Fragranced.

4. Pack of Pampers Sensitive baby wipes. They were a freebie.

5. A cream folder which came with Oliver’s birth certificate. It also contains an application form for him to join the doctors list and several leaflets for baby related things.

6. Application form for Child Benefit. This has been filled in since August, I have just been waiting to get the birth certificate to send it off. (better get that done)

7. Baby hat and scratch mittens.

8. One clean muslin square and one used, but not very dirty muslin square. For protecting my clothes if I need to burp him.

9. An empty Tommee Tippee bottle. I used this yesterday, when we went to register Oliver. Need to put it in the kitchen so that it gets washed.

10. An umbrella. To keep me dry when it rains.

11. My purse. It is black and has several sections for different functions. At the moment my purse contains ~ my current bank card ~ two of my old bank cards (need to destroy) ~ my web saver account card ~ a Toys’R’Us gold card ~ a Boots card ~ a Matalan card (not mine, it belongs to my mother in law, should really give it back) ~ a Tesco Clubcard ~ my library card ~ my gym’s loyalty card ~ my maternity exemption certificate ~ a scrap of paper with my partner’s savings account pin number on it (best to destroy that or I will bleed the account dry) ~ eleven points vouchers for Boots ~ one Boots receipt which I need to collect the points on it ~ book of first class stamps, half used ~ couple of pictures of my niece ~ an old lottery ticket from May last year ~ quite a few old and scrunched up bus tickets and receipts ~ one hair grip ~ twenty one pence ~

12. A sudoko puzzle book and a pink pen. In case I ever get bored.

13. A bill for NTL services. I needed it to make a complaint. I had to go round to my mum’s because my phone hadn’t been working it and still wasn’t fixed two weeks after the initial phone call. It took ten minutes for them to fix the problem after I called them back to complain. Grrr!

14. Application form for the Sure Start Grant. I am waiting to get my Family Tax Credits to see if I am entitled to apply for this grant. Five hundred pounds would come in very useful at the moment. Babies cost so much more than you think they will!

15. Bottle of water. I re-use the same Evian bottle again and again. (thrifty, eh?)

16. Packet of fruity polos.

Wow! That is a lot of stuff already and I still have two other parts to explore. In the various pockets I have…

1. Small tub of Sudocrem. This was a freebie, but I will continue to refill and use it. (I tend to do this sort of thing a lot. I think it may be because am Scottish and apparently we are stingy)

2. Small spray bottle of Dettol Anti-Bacterial Surface Cleanser. To clean surfaces before I put my baby on them to change his nappy and then afterwards when he has peed all over them. Again this was another freebie and yes I will refill and reuse it.

3. Small tube of Bepanthen Ointment. For nappy rash. Another freebie.

4. Couple of bibs.

5. Small bottle of Palmers Cocoa Butter. Left over from pregnancy. No, it does not stop stretch marks appearing. Grrr!

6. Half used pack of paracetamol.

7. Half used pack of Rennies.

8. My mobile phone. Switched off because no one ever calls or texts me. I switch it on if I need to use it, this way I need to charge it less.

Don’t worry, I’m nearly finished. Only the zip compartment in the back to go and it is surprisingly empty…

1. A book of stamps.

2. A brown envelope containing notes for my GP for registering Oliver.



Goodness me, I have got a very full bag. At least I have now managed to clear it out of old receipts, sweetie wrappers and miscellaneous crumbs and fluff. What a useful discussion topic! Now all I need is one regarding the contents of my kitchen cupboards, airing cupboard and desk drawer… then I’ll be totally organised!

Summary: Long essay on the contents of my bag.