Tick-tock, tick-tock! There’s still time to enter the Finders Keepers giveaway––a brand new purse stuffed with goodies—but the time is running out! Only a few more days, so be sure to sign up if you haven’t already:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Between the release of Finders Keepers and it’s premise and the above-mentioned giveaway, my focus has understandably been on handbags. If you’ve read my latest posts, then you also know that I love purses almost as much as I love shoes, although lately my adoration of footwear is limited to flip-flops, a side effect of living ten minutes from the beach.

But I digress. The point is, I’m thinking a lot about purses and how the contents of my purse has changed over the years to accommodate my circumstances.

My first purse was white patent leather to match my Easter shoes. I was maybe five or six, and Gramma helpfully stuffed it with a dollar bill for the church collection, tissues in case I had to sneeze, and enough of my chocolate bunny to keep me quiet and happy once the sermonizing started. (God bless Gramma. She knew me well.)

As a teenager, my purse held lip gloss, mascara, gum, tampons, a comb, and a small wallet containing my meager allowance—what was left of it after a trip to the mall—along with change for the pay phone. I also carried tissues, a toothbrush and toothpaste, pens, and a notebook, because I fancied myself a poet and jotted masterpieces at every opportunity.

After I married and had kids, the purse grew to accommodate more and different stuff: enough makeup products to make Merle Norman envious, the ever present tampons, necessities of motherhood to include pacifiers, Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels, McDonald’s Happy Meal toys, wet wipes, a first aid kit, Teddy Grahams and Goldfish crackers for little fingers, and dark chocolate and peanut M&Ms for Mommy because . . . well, just because. Don’t get judgy.

The kids grew up as fast as my mom warned me they would, and my purse scaled down some, though it still had to be big enough to hold all the stuff the hubster didn’t have room to carry in his pockets. For years I was his personal assistant, carrier of wallets, sunglasses, and other stuff that was not my own. I mostly didn’t mind because while I’d cut down on a lot of the items I carried, I still had plenty of room to toss in other stuff. My purse was like Mary Poppins’s bag—a lamppost could fit in there if I slid things around just right.

And then . . . something happened. Somewhere deep down I found that I no longer needed a purse with deep pockets. I discovered the joy of a small cross-body bag and the realization that the only person in the whole wide world who gave a flip if my makeup looked good was me, which led me to little or no makeup at all. Boy, did that ever clear up some space.

A few blog posts ago I showed you what I carry in my purse now. (See it HERE.) The items have certainly changed over time, as has the size of my handbag, and it leads me to wonder how the contents will morph yet again as life moves on. If I am one day blessed with grandchildren, will my purse again become a repository for Teddy Grahams and Hot Wheels?

One thing I do know. I’m not giving up my pens or my measuring tape. And I think I should toss in some dark chocolate, too, maybe some emergency peanut M&Ms.

I think Gramma would approve.

How has your purse and its contents changed over the years? What do you carry today that you didn’t ten years ago? How do you expect it to change in the future?

Thanks for hanging out with me. Remember to sign up for the giveaway if you haven’t done it yet, and good luck!

See you next week.