An Ode to the Mom Purse

By Bridget Clark, SBA Credit Manager, Core Bank
There was a time, long, long ago, where I could buy cute little purse, big enough to carry my identification, lip gloss, and a breath mint and I was ready to go out into the world. I wasn’t prepared for the amount of stuff I needed to carry around with me when I had my first child. I realized very quickly that I needed to carry twice the amount of stuff when I had my second child. The era of the cute purses ended, and the Mom Purse came to live at my house.
For those of you who might live under a rock, the Mom Purse is a living, breathing beast. It usually weighs approximately 25 pounds, has stains all over it from sippy cups that leaked, has an unidentifiable smell coming from it, and has about $100 of change at the bottom (all in pennies and nickels of course).  This purse is a mobile first aid kit, Kleenex dispenser, ink pen dispenser, snack station, and can be used as a weapon should someone actually have the guts to try and attack a crazy, sleep deprived woman with two screaming kids outside of the grocery store.
My kids are past the screaming toddler stage and have moved on to the teenager sports stage, which involves me cramming water bottles, snacks, checks to pay for something (there is always something I need to pay for), and socks into the Mom Purse. The Mom Purse gets dusty and is usually sticky due to spilled sodas at the ball fields.
The Mom Purse is versatile, is ready for any situation, and has my back. I may have a slight humpback due to lugging the 25-pound bag around everywhere I go, but I don’t know what I would do without my Mom Purse. Yes, I admit that I sometimes consider cheating on my Mom Purse, going back to a much younger, cute clutch purse that has room for exactly a cell phone and lipstick, but I then think about all of good and bad times my Mom Purse and I have been through. And then I decide I’m in this relationship for the long haul. I will never take my Mom Purse for granted ever again.
So as Mother’s Day approaches this year, I pay tribute to my trusty and reliable Mom Purse. It might be ugly and have a weird smell, but it is my Mom Purse, and I proudly haul it around with honor.