I like to tell people that one of my biggest parenting pain points is all the stuff I have to carry on a daily basis. Some of that is nonnegotiable, but I’ll admit that I often carry things just in case. What if my kids get hungry? What if there’s an accident? What if we’re stuck somewhere? What if my baby goes through seven diapers on this ten minute walk through my neighborhood?
We’ve all heard the trope that Jewish moms are anxious, which you may or may not identify with. Anxiety, of course, can be severe and often isn’t a joking matter, but when the label is applied to Jewish mothers, it leans less clinical and more “pathologically over prepared.” To which I say: what’s wrong with that?
Maybe carrying too much stuff is just part of our fate as moms, but maybe I don’t need to bring seven diapers and three changes of clothes to walk to a coffeeshop. After some reflection, I’ve identified some things I haven’t regretted keeping with me at all times. And knowing that we have a lot of anxio — over-prepared — moms on staff here at Kveller HQ, I asked our team for the things they also think are worth schlepping. Here’s our list.
I swear by organizing my bag via pouches, both to make things easy to find and to make them easy to move from bag to bag. I have one for my wallet, phone, keys and sunglasses; one for snacks; one for diaper essentials; and one for random toys I might need to keep my kids occupied. I love everything Baggu, but practically, the fact that each pouch in a set of three is a different color/pattern is helpful for keeping track of which pouch holds which thing.
This may seem obvious to you if you have a kid in diapers, but the moms on the Kveller team insist they've never regretted having baby wipes around, even with older kids. Either way, I like to carry a travel pack like this on the go — a standard pack of wipes is heavy!
Sarah, my colleague who lives and schvitzes in South Carolina, keeps this fan that doubles as a power bank in her bag at all times.
If you just need a portable power bank — something I've definitely needed more than once — I'm loyal to the brand Anker for all things charging.
In addition to carrying some kind of anti-itch cream, several moms on our team carry this contraption. It works, but please don't ask me how.
For when you want to eliminate germs but you also want every tween in a 3 mile radius to say "omg I LOVE your hand sanitizer!"
A lot of moms are worried about injuries and carry first aid supplies; I tend to be more worried about keeping my kids entertained so that I never have to stop going to restaurants. That's why this game — or a book of word searches or puzzles — is always in my bag.
I also often bring a notebook and markers. These don't have caps, which means, crucially, less things to drop on the floor.
You've probably already thought about bringing a change of clothes for your kids, but if your kid has a spill/diaper leak/stomach issue, chances are your clothes will be impacted, too. My go-to is a thin jumpsuit like this one: easier to compress than a two piece outfit, and less pieces to forget or misplace.
