Ok, it’s time to resolve a discussion my partner and I have been having since we found out that We were pregnant with our son.
Do, or should, men, get to have their own Diaper Bag? Lol
Well it’s obvious that men can of course have their own diaper bag, but is it necessary, or not?
So from about week 4 of pregnancy I decided that I was in-fact, going to, have my very own, diaper bag. lol
My partner thought I was nuts. She asked “why would I think I would need my own”? She figured it was a waste of money, and that the idea was silly. I mean why would anyone want to have more than one diaper bag in a household right?
Even as the time came closer to The birth of our son. And after many months of looking in stores and online for the perfect Daddy diaper bag I finally found the one I wanted, It was perfect.
I had Infact, already bought 1 at around 5 months into the pregnancy, that one was ok for sure and would have sufficed had I not found the crème de la crème of diaper bags, but when I came across the one I use today, I simply couldn’t resist, I just had to have it.
Even when I told people about the bag, I got blank looks as if to say,” why on earth would YOU have a diaper bag “? I even started getting a bit of a complex about it, thinking to myself, ( is it really that uncommon for men to have their own bag? Then I asked myself, why would men not want a diaper bag? Do men not change diapers lol
So just a few weeks before our son came into the world, I began taking my diaper bag to work with me, leaving it in the car. At that time it had morfed into what became my hospital bag, your now asking probably? What am I doing with a hospital bag? Ha ha ha. That’s for a different blog, lol,
I was just getting ready for the phone call saying “ITS TIME” . I had all the essentials in it just waiting for the time to come. It was well stocked with diapers, creams, wipes, ect.. of course, but I also had things like extra clothes for a nights stay in hospital, a Bluetooth speaker, chargers for all our electronics, candy, cigars, and even a small bottle of champagne and some plastic glasses for celebration day.
I was so over prepared for the hospital that even the nurse looked bewildered as she realized all the items I brought into the hospital with us?
3 separate bags, 1 for Erin, one for our unborn child, and of course 1 for daddy, which I stuffed into the stroller which had its own car seat attachment on it. The only think I didn’t bring into the hospital was a crib. I mean let’s not get ridiculous now. Lol
People at work gave me the Look when I started bringing the bag to work as if I was nuts. Ok well maybe bringing it to work as early As I did was a bit much but in my head, I was just being prepared. Lol
When they saw that the bag said daddy on it? I had to explaine it, it was my diaper bag! That’s when I think fellow coworkers were ready to admit me to the nut house.
We Erin and I, even went to Sandbanks with some family friends while Erin was just about at the end of her 8th month, and looking like she was about to pop. I remember walking hand in hand with her my chest puffed out and being so proud, as if to show off to everyone at the beach saying “look what we did” lol.
Finally finding our friends on the beach, who also have small children. I decided to ask the father if he had his own diaper bag and he giggled and said the same as everyone else , “why on earth would he want his own diaper bag”? They already have 1.
Ok fine I started thinking I was alone with the whole daddy diaper bag idea lol.
Ok well let me explain where I’m coming from here. As a man, have you ever looked or tried to find an item for your wife/partner, when she has asks you to “JUST GO IN MY PURSE” “it should be right near the top I swear”.?
Ok first off, let me say, if you have made it to this level of trust within your relationship, when a woman feels comfortable enough for you to be rummaging through her purse, this is when you can rest assured she is never going anywhere ever again. Yup you are now her property, she is yours forever. Lol, and 2ndly there is a reason she is asking “you” to get something out of there! It’s Because she is sick and tired of being the only member of the search party every time she needs something out of that purse.
That sentence should be the end of this blog as every man that has ever heard those words coming out of their partners mouth knows where I’m going next.
Ok well now picture needing accessories for your child in an emergency “CODE BROWN” diaper change situation, and you only have 1 shared diaper bag that you wife has had control over for the past few weeks.
You hear the dreaded “OH NO” Hunny we need a diaper and a change of clothes for Nugget! No problem right?
So you get the shared bag, open it up and start looking for the diapers. Cream, and wipes. 3 items you would think would be readily accessible for just such an occasion being it’s a diaper bag, am I wrong?
Ok so you head over open the bag and then the realization that a diaper bag for a woman is not a diaper bag at all. It is a new purse, a bigger purse, one with so many more pockets than her old purse. You start to look for diapers but first you have to dig through receipts for groceries bought over the past several months, a wallet, magazines, Kleenex, (used I might add) tampons, extra clothing items but not for the baby, pens, already chewed gum (saved for later) hair clips, barrettes, elestacs, 1 loan hair roller ( even if they have never actually rolled/curled their own hair) hair products men didn’t know existed, face cream, sunscreen, hand lotion, hand sanitizer, sanitizing wipes, but not the ones you need for this emergency diaper change, a used diaper scrunched up in a tight ball, her actual purse because it fits inside this new bigger bag, a breast pump, (you must be getting closer now) and then finally at the very bottom 1 diaper unused but the wrong size, oh, and an open bottle of diaper cream, almost dried out. as for the wipes you needed, I guess one of the used Kleenex’s you saw on the way in, didn’t look too used so that will do just fine. Oh and you grab a receiving blanket you we’re lucky enough to see through you adventure of looking for a diaper on your way out of the bag, just a couple of dried up milk stains on it, should be fine to lay our son on while you give him a change, and you can double it as a swaddle afterwards, since you didn’t find any extra clothes in there.
You see men that have their own diaper bags treat them like a tool box. Infact that’s exactly what they are. A bag to hold all the necessary tools needed for a day out with your baby. A mans tool box (for most men) are taken care of more meticulously than his own underwear drawer. Tools are placed in a specific spot, cleaned after each use, organized on a regular schedule, they usually have a multitude of different tools in there that could be used for each task that could conceivably arise, and when something does arise that was unforeseen, a man will immediately run out to the nearest tool store and stock up on the tools needed for the task at hand and double up incase that scenario is ever to arise again. Then those tools are put away clean, and exactly where they were found at the start of the job. A mans diaper bag is treated no differently than his very own personal tool box for his child.
Since Caspian (our son ) was born I can honestly say that whenever we, as a family, have left our house we have always taken my diaper bag. This is not always been the preference of my partner but I myself feel much more comfortable brining the tools I know we have, than to cross over into uncharted territory and bring a bag that
1st- I am unfamiliar with, AND
2nd- really isn’t very masculine.
Which brings me to my last point. You know when the time comes for those dreaded words to be spoken “CODE BROWN ” you know full well, that you will be the one, carrying the diaper bag through a crowded shopping mall to find a suitable area for the next emergency change. Do you want to carry that bright pink or flowery bag? or have one that you hand picked out personally to suit your own needs? Because 1 thing is inevitable, you absolutely will be carrying a diaper bag at some point.
So In conclusion to the question of, Should a man have his own diaper bag?
Despite all the risk of ridicule from your peers. I personally would highly recommend having one of your very own. Lol.
Does your man have his own diaper bag?
Are you a dad in a relationship and ever thought it would have been great to have your own diaper bag but decided against it?
I would be happy to answer any comments or questions you have for me, Just post in the comment section below
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