unzipped
Because who doesn't like a little nosey around someone else's bag, right?
This is the bag I usually take with me if I'm out with the children for any trip longer than a supermarket visit or the school run. For those short trips I carry a small cross-body satchel which fits just my wallet, phone, a snack Tupperware, and a foldable, reusable shopping bag. The Longchamp was a really good buy at CHF70 (approximately S$105) and is exactly what I need right now because my other shoulder bag kept sliding off my shoulders whenever I bent down to pick Bao up (i.e. 58 times an outing). That shoulder bag was actually a lovely one from Brooklyn Industries with lots of pockets but unfortunately no zip closure, which is basically an open invitation to Bao to take everything out of my bag and either shred it, eat it, or fling it around. She has recently mastered zips and can open Tupperware lids, as evidenced by an incident last week where I caught her sitting in front of the TV nonchalantly eating rice cakes that she had helped herself to from my bag. Now my bag is stored on the coat stand when we are at home and every time I hang it up I keep thinking about that camping tip about hanging your food in a tree to discourage bears from stealing it.
I was trying to clean it out on Sunday when I decided to lay it all out and record it all for posterity.
1. Ketchup packet from a restaurant. At most places they charge you CHF0.50 for a packet of ketchup which is a total rip-off, but this restaurant provided packets for free. I should have asked for more.
2. Fruit leather snack.
3. Orange-flavoured tic-tacs - for me, mostly.
4. Packet of tomato basil crackers.
5. Water bottle - we just share one bottle amongst all of us since Bao won't drink from a straw or sippy cup.
6. Foldable shopping bag.
7. Two small Tupperwares of snacks - rice cakes in one and some low-sugar honey-oat biscuit in the other. Forget these at your own peril. Some days (okay, most) these are the only things that get Bao into her carseat.
8. Doudou - this is the French slang for 'lovey' but we really named it Doudou. I won't allow her treasured Duckie out of the apartment so when she's in her carseat or stroller Doudou is her main companion.
9. Bibs - from at the amount of drool and snot that Bao produces, it is a wonder the child doesn't just shrivel up from a lack of moisture.
10. Wallet. Included inside are a couple of paracetamol tablets in their blister packet (for me) and plasters (for The Bun).
11. Random papers and two identical pens for the kids to scribble with when waiting at restaurants. Note that the pens MUST be identical or risk triggering a tabletop WWIII.
12. Sunglasses.
13. Two clean napkins from a restaurant and one dried-up, used wet-wipe (ew).
14. Diaper change mat. But note, no diaper.
15. Lipstick and tampon.
16. Wet bag for Bao's dirty or wet bibs. In this case it also held two (clean) plastic spoons.
Not photographed: small packet of wet wipes stashed in the outer pocket of the bag. Things like keys and my iPhone were in my coat pockets so they're not pictured here. The day before these photos were taken we went up the mountain for some snow play and I had packed extra snacks (but not extra diapers!) for the trip. I think it's already a fairly minimal load since it doesn't include Bao's milk bottles; those are usually stored in a separate bag in the car. I've been trying to convert her to drinking regular cow's milk from a packet so that it makes life easier for us when she needs her milk fix, but she isn't taking to it too well.
The last time I did one of these what's-in-your-bag posts I was still working full-time in a proper office and this was way, way before J and I had even thought about having children. Ah, the carefree times when you carry YOUR stuff in YOUR bag instead of doing the packmule thing for your sprog. At some point I know I will be able to carry a chic leather bag and enjoy life unencumbered by diapers, used wipes and crumbs. I had a taste of this last summer when J and I took The Bun to Geneva to apartment-hunt, leaving Bao in Singapore. For ten days all I carried of The Bun's things was a pen and a little notebook for him to draw in and that fitted nicely into a small shoulder bag from DKNY that hadn't seen the light of day in at least six years. One day when the kids are older I'll look back at this post and be all nostalgic about this, I'm sure.
Quite obvious who did what.
This is the bag I usually take with me if I'm out with the children for any trip longer than a supermarket visit or the school run. For those short trips I carry a small cross-body satchel which fits just my wallet, phone, a snack Tupperware, and a foldable, reusable shopping bag. The Longchamp was a really good buy at CHF70 (approximately S$105) and is exactly what I need right now because my other shoulder bag kept sliding off my shoulders whenever I bent down to pick Bao up (i.e. 58 times an outing). That shoulder bag was actually a lovely one from Brooklyn Industries with lots of pockets but unfortunately no zip closure, which is basically an open invitation to Bao to take everything out of my bag and either shred it, eat it, or fling it around. She has recently mastered zips and can open Tupperware lids, as evidenced by an incident last week where I caught her sitting in front of the TV nonchalantly eating rice cakes that she had helped herself to from my bag. Now my bag is stored on the coat stand when we are at home and every time I hang it up I keep thinking about that camping tip about hanging your food in a tree to discourage bears from stealing it.
I was trying to clean it out on Sunday when I decided to lay it all out and record it all for posterity.
1. Ketchup packet from a restaurant. At most places they charge you CHF0.50 for a packet of ketchup which is a total rip-off, but this restaurant provided packets for free. I should have asked for more.
2. Fruit leather snack.
3. Orange-flavoured tic-tacs - for me, mostly.
4. Packet of tomato basil crackers.
5. Water bottle - we just share one bottle amongst all of us since Bao won't drink from a straw or sippy cup.
6. Foldable shopping bag.
7. Two small Tupperwares of snacks - rice cakes in one and some low-sugar honey-oat biscuit in the other. Forget these at your own peril. Some days (okay, most) these are the only things that get Bao into her carseat.
8. Doudou - this is the French slang for 'lovey' but we really named it Doudou. I won't allow her treasured Duckie out of the apartment so when she's in her carseat or stroller Doudou is her main companion.
9. Bibs - from at the amount of drool and snot that Bao produces, it is a wonder the child doesn't just shrivel up from a lack of moisture.
10. Wallet. Included inside are a couple of paracetamol tablets in their blister packet (for me) and plasters (for The Bun).
11. Random papers and two identical pens for the kids to scribble with when waiting at restaurants. Note that the pens MUST be identical or risk triggering a tabletop WWIII.
12. Sunglasses.
13. Two clean napkins from a restaurant and one dried-up, used wet-wipe (ew).
14. Diaper change mat. But note, no diaper.
15. Lipstick and tampon.
16. Wet bag for Bao's dirty or wet bibs. In this case it also held two (clean) plastic spoons.
Not photographed: small packet of wet wipes stashed in the outer pocket of the bag. Things like keys and my iPhone were in my coat pockets so they're not pictured here. The day before these photos were taken we went up the mountain for some snow play and I had packed extra snacks (but not extra diapers!) for the trip. I think it's already a fairly minimal load since it doesn't include Bao's milk bottles; those are usually stored in a separate bag in the car. I've been trying to convert her to drinking regular cow's milk from a packet so that it makes life easier for us when she needs her milk fix, but she isn't taking to it too well.
The last time I did one of these what's-in-your-bag posts I was still working full-time in a proper office and this was way, way before J and I had even thought about having children. Ah, the carefree times when you carry YOUR stuff in YOUR bag instead of doing the packmule thing for your sprog. At some point I know I will be able to carry a chic leather bag and enjoy life unencumbered by diapers, used wipes and crumbs. I had a taste of this last summer when J and I took The Bun to Geneva to apartment-hunt, leaving Bao in Singapore. For ten days all I carried of The Bun's things was a pen and a little notebook for him to draw in and that fitted nicely into a small shoulder bag from DKNY that hadn't seen the light of day in at least six years. One day when the kids are older I'll look back at this post and be all nostalgic about this, I'm sure.
Quite obvious who did what.