Last week, I took Lil Ma to a birthday party. Not long after we arrived, it was time for a diaper change. The hostess graciously escorted us to the birthday girl’s nursery and offered the use of their changing table.

“Feel free to use whatever you need,” she said as she left the room.

I put Lil Ma on the floor so I could look in my bag for supplies. I unzipped it and was met with chaos. Tissues, burp cloths and clothes spilled out. I pushed the mess aside and pulled out a diaper. While trying to keep Lil Ma from going into the closet, I kept looking for wipes and diaper cream. I knew they were in there, but I couldn’t find them.

So I took the hostess up on her offer and used whatever I couldn’t find in my personal black hole.

About an hour later, Lil Ma was getting cranky. I went back to the bag and fished around for what felt like ages before I found a baggie with baby food.

When I got home, I was determined to get the bag in order. It took less than a minute to figure out the problem. Instead of checking the bag’s contents before packing, Hubby and I would just grab new supplies and cram them on top of the old ones.

Five focused minutes has my diaper bag ready for the next trip. Here’s what I did.

1. Toss. I found two crusty spoons, a half-eaten jar of food and a gaggle of dirty clothes. I shudder to think how long those things were in there. Besides being a waste of space, they’re just gross.

4. Compartmentalize. I have a gazillion cosmetics bags from various free gifts with purchases. Those are perfect for holding little items like tissue, lip balm, lotion, or diaper cream.

5. Repeat. To maintain order and keep science projects at bay, I’ll have to do a clean out after each use.

I’m going to take my newly organzied bag on the road tomorrow, so I’ll see how it goes. It will be a win if I can find the A&D ointment.

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