What's In Your Purse?

I was digging in my purse this morning. Honestly, I was looking for a Lego character my son had hidden in there during our weekend shopping forays. Yes, I did have a few crumbs and such...how did they get in there? I honestly do wonder about that sometimes. I decided I might as well clean it out while I was in there...you know, take stock of things...and suddenly I realized my purse is my lifeline when I am out of the house! Keep your purse well stocked, and you'll never be in a clueless or helpless situation ever again.

People do make fun of my purse. It does look like luggage, and to be honest with you, when I go out for a night on the town or someplace "fun", I do pare it down and bring something smaller and more elegant. For the most part though, I do carry my piece of luggage and am always prepared!

I prefer a purse with a few large compartments. It's gotta have a small zippered compartment and another larger zippered compartment too. You don't want a purse with just snaps and folds. This is for security purposes of course. Get one with strong handles and a thick outer shell, again along those lines of needing to be secure.

In one of the outer pockets, you are going to keep your day planner, cause you really do need to keep track of your appointments, "to do" lists and phone book. I'll have to go more in detail at a later date what should be in your planner. Also keep a small spiral notebook. Anytime you need to write something down, write it in here. No scraps of paper and backs of receipts needed!

In your large zippered compartment, you are going to keep your wallet and your checkbook. This is the safest place in your purse. Only take your checkbook along if you are going to use it. In the smaller zippered compartment, you are going to have:

• a small container (get these at a local drugstore) and fill it with pain pills, stomach ache pills even allergy pills...whatever you could be needing. You know yourself best. You can write on the outside what's inside

• I carry another pillbox for my kids, with their medicine separate from mine; I even confess to having a small digital thermometer in there
  

• Benadryl Itch Relief Stick for those nasty stings and bites the kids keep bugging you about
  

• "Tide to Go Stick"; this thing actually works on stains; I saved my husband's designer shirt using this darn stick; it really works

• Extra hairbands for when your hair looks like a bird's nest

• Extra tampons cause if you carry them, you won't desperately need them

• A small container of No Doz and Dramamine (I only carry this when I travel, just in case) cause you're either going to get sick or fall asleep when you don't need to be doing that
  

I also like to carry at least three pens. You know you are either going to lose one or someone is going to ask to borrow one and never return it. I used to carry a calculator until my phone happened to have one. It's nice also to have a purse with an exterior compartment for your cell phone, or get a cell phone clip and clip your phone to the top edge of your purse. I used to wonder why no one called me until I realized my cell phone was always buried in the deepest depths of my purse. I never heard the thing ringing!

What else do I carry in my purse? Well, you gotta have a small pack of Kleenex. I can't tell you the number of times one of little ones presented me with a package from their nose as we were shopping and running around. This is another reason to keep a tissue box in your car. Of course keep a travel size bottle of lotion and another of hand sanitizer in your purse. You're gonna need both of those, especially if you are running around with little kids.

What's the most unusual thing I carry in there? I would have to say it's my small tape measure. I can't tell you the countless times I have had to measure something at the store! I remember laying out a carpet on one trip to see if it would fit in my foyer. Well, it wasn't marked, so I had to do it, right? The salesman was about to have a fit! He thought I was setting up shop or something.

So, that's what I have in mine. What do you have in yours?