When I first became a new mom I was excited to receive one of those cute and fancy diaper bags as a shower gift, the coveted rectangular tote of many a mother in my playgroups. You know the ones – those purposeful, colorful, Petuna Pickle Bottom monstrosities that scream “new mother” louder than a spit-up stained shirt, leggings, and unwashed hair in a ponytail.
I was content to neatly pack multiple clothing changes, snacks, diapers, and toys in the myriad of pockets and zippers that those totes hide. I took it everywhere for years. Over time, however, it started to feel a bit too, well, mother-ish. I had long-since given up on carrying a cute purse with me – aiming instead to get everything I needed, sunglasses, wallet, cell phone, and all, into that one outrageously large bag.
And it was shiny lime green too – it didn’t go with anything.
It eventually started to fray and fall apart so I started looking for alternatives. Thankfully, I had an epiphany while pregnant with my second child.
I didn’t want to go the backpack route, and messenger bags were just not classy enough for me.
Because I was also not wanting to carry around a new Winnie-the-Pooh themed diaper bag for the next two years I set about looking for a beautiful and discrete design that would effectively do double duty as a purse and diaper bag – not as easy as a task as you might think.
Many purses have with one big pouch, or only a center zipped divider if you’re lucky to find one. I fell in love with this faux snake and stud handbag by Sophie and Trey, but it didn’t have all the pockets and dividers I needed to stash my stuff.
But that’s when I discovered purse inserts! Oh my god, what a life changer.
There are a bunch of brands and companies that make them but I love Chameleon and Periea the best. The great thing about purse inserts is that you just pull out the whole contraption and pop it into your next bag – no more dumping contents out and onto tables or beds.
For 10-30 bucks you can avoid the hassle of having to rearrange all your stuff every single time you want to change a purse. Ain’t nobody got time for that – especially with kiddos nearby just itching to get into all my stuff. With a purse organizer you simply pull it out of the old purse, plop it into the new one and you’re good to go. It also keeps your purses relatively cleaner on the inside (well, as clean as you can get with little ones – it’s best to accept early on that cracker crumbs and candy wrappers will get everywhere no matter how much to try to prevent it).
There was no going back after discovering purse dividers, and now I can be a classy prepared mama without breaking the bank and buying a ton of high-priced “fashion diaper bags” that can run into the hundreds or even thousands of dollars. I’ve got my camouflaged “diaper bags” and can now match my on-trend accessories to my outfits. I’m one happy, sexy, sassy mama!
