My Little Kingdom

A day in the life of me and my kingdom. Thoughts of a mother of four amazing little boys, a wife of an incredible husband and a woman trying not to forget about herself.

September 22, 2007

What's in Your Wallet?

I’ve always thought it would be so cool to have a bag like the ever popular Mary Poppins. Who hasn’t? What ever you want, when ever you want it. No wonder she was always cheerful and floating around. Nothing ever weighed her down. Yet she had access to the universe at her fingertips. Now, she had a good thing going. Or did she?

Much to my amazement I’ve stumbled across one of these bags( make that a couple over my 7 years of motherhood). Now I don’t know if my bag would qualify quite the same as Mary Poppins’. But it does rank right up there even if in it’s own league. After all she didn’t have 15lb+ infant carriers, 35lb diaper bags and 55lbs of toddler paraphernalia to lug around nor did she have the cheerios, sippy cups and umpteen zillion varieties of transportable snacks. Come to think of it she only had two timid slightly older (than mine) children, where as I have four younger and much more adventurous lads to sweep from one adventure to another. I’ve begun to wonder if her bag would even hold up to my lifestyle.

As far as bags or the like go mine is a marvel and a mysterious entity in and of it’s self. It’s a modest little thing. Only boasting an existence of 6”x8” at most. Yet at any given time I carry the universe within the safety of it’s mystical sage pink cloth panels. Despite its meager appearance I too have found that I have access to the universe. I just haven’t quite figured out how to harness it yet.

At any given moment I can pull out of my bag(please remember the size is a mere 6”x8”) an air freshener, ½ lb of crushed graham crackers, unwanted abc candy(usually the soar kind), a plethora of toys all shapes and sizes, a soggy grocery list, old stray tic tacs, a spare diaper, $28 in loose change, camera, 3 binkies, a dozen snack wrappers, screwdriver, a bouncy ball, a hand full of rocks, picked flowers & weeds, screws, nails, bolts, bottle caps, 10 different to-do lists, pop cycles stick, tissues (some used, some well…), a sock, band aid (unused or not), sippy cup, puddle of milk, cell phone with a call to Madagascar in progress, family photos, a highlighter with a missing cap, a small but extensive library of books, coupons I’ll never use, lunch for 4 on the go, movie stub, glasses, assortment of game pieces, left over foreign money, flashlight that doesn’t work, ice cream scooper, an earring, floss, a platoon of plastic army men, a diaper & wipes, the unidentified… If I’m lucky my wallet & keys.

I know I’ve really wowed someone with my ever so talented bag when I’m standing at the check out and the cashier is watching me intently as I reach in my bag to pay. As I pull my hand out eyebrows raise, including mine as there is a foreign sticky substance slimed over the tips of my fingers. And this would be one of those times when I can’t find a tissue or wipe so of course this is when I wrinkle my nose and twist my face with all my might trying to harness those magical powers that my oh so marvelous and mysterious bag possesses. To no avail, yet somehow I manage to gain control over the situation. I’m feeling pretty impressed with my MacGyver like cleverness at getting out of a ‘sticky’ situation and I pull out my wallet. At this very moment I begin a sigh of relief only to wind up with a furrowed brow as I open my wallet to pay the cashier and wouldn’t you know, there’s that ½ lb of graham cracker crumbs spilling out & sprinkling over everything like pixie dust.

So, being the owner of one of these magical bags of the universe isn’t quite what it seemed at first. It’s not exactly what I had hoped for or even remotely close. Or is that the real magic? The ability to grin & bare it. I’m going to go rent Mary Poppins and look a little closer, maybe just maybe I missed the grape jam on her on her fingertips.

Now where do you pick up one of these bags? I got mine on clearance at Target.

(The day after writing this I was sitting in a meeting with my husband and a mortgage lender talking terms when I realized my lap was wet. I looked down and noticed an opened Capri Sun had been slipped in my bag and was leaking out the bottom as my youngest son bounced away without a care in the world. The receptionist was so kind as to supply a drink and some popcorn for the boys while we talked business. Needless to say, I’m retiring my bag. And I can hardly wait to see what the universe of hand bags has in store for me and what I’ll find within it at any given moment.)

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hello from Brisbane, Australia. I came across your blog tonight as I surfed around the web for some relaxation. It was a busy day at work, so I just got my Macbook out and am sitting on the porch enjoying the cool breeze....and reading about life in your area of the world.
I'll visit again for sure.
Cheers!

3:35 AM  
Blogger Suzanne Moll said...

Funny thing, I write to relax and reflect. I can guarantee there's never a dull moment around here, so I always have something to write about. :) And you'll always have something to be entertained by.

3:07 PM  

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