My daughter and I were shopping for a baby shower gift a few weeks back and had decided to buy the mom-to-be a diaper bag. We stood before a wall literally covered with carry-alls of every style and color, but there was one thing they all had in common. They were huge, practically the size of an ice chest but without the wheels.
"Do you think she'll want something that big?" I asked as I surveyed the selection before me.
My daughter, the mother of a two-year-old, only laughed. "She'll probably need two of them at least."
She went on to explain that today's diaper bags have to carry so much more than simply diapers. "There are changing pads, and wet wipes and refills for the wet wipes. You have your baby powder so they don't get diaper rash, and your diaper rash cream for when they do. You have your plastic, non-porous, odor-free plastic bags to hold poopy diapers and the cute little yellow ducky dispenser that hides them discretely out of sight. And if you're little darling is a boy, well you have to carry little pee-pee tee-pees."
Apparently the pee-pee tee-pee is a paper cone that fits over the little male's pee spouter to prevent unfortunate accidents. If you run out, you can also use traditional snow cone cups.
"Then of course," she continued."You have to have room for pacifiers, bottles and milk."
"I thought she was breast feeding," I said.
"Expressed milk for those times when you need someone else to feed the baby, and a large wire-framed cover up blanket for when you do it yourself."
I was beginning to get the picture.
"Then of course there are the clothes. I always carry at least three complete outfits from socks and t-shirts to coats and hats, four if I'll be gone longer than an hour. You'd be amazed at the multiple ways an infant can find to soil a set of clothing."
I took a deep breath and tried to concentrate.
"There are the incidentals like baby pain reliever and allergy medicine, a first aid kit, syrup of ipecac, tweezers and a thermometer. A variety of small toys and books, preferably educational in nature, and I always carry a notepad with emergency numbers and medical history for the little guy... just in case."
My eyes were starting to glaze over.
"Now that he's bigger, I have to include a box of rice cereal and those bland apple snacks that taste like Styrofoam. And unless I like driving down the highway with a screaming toddler, I can't forget the portable DVD player and a selection of Elmo videos."
"Wow," I said. "What a collection. No wonder the bags have to be so big."
"But you know what's really frightening," my daughter asked, her eyes big and her voice dramatic. "She's having twins."
I've never been so happy to be menopausal in my life.
Deanne Blackhurst has been freelance writing for the past twenty-five years. She's the author of two published novels as well as numerous articles for magazines, newspapers and web content. The mother of six children, Deanne is a stay at home mom who specializes in articles about the funny side of home life. Please visit her website at [http://www.deanneblackhurst.com].
