We live in Brooklyn, NY where space comes at a ridiculous premium. I know people who make good money who still get dressed in their kitchens...because that is where the closet is. It's not uncommon for an oven to act as a shoe storage unit and "outdoor space" to be a three foot patch of concrete slab in the back of an apartment that looks directly into a giant brick wall. That is why there are so many New Yorkers on the street! I'm happy to say my oven is devoid of shoes but we do not have outdoor space. And when you have a toddler, you NEED outdoor space. They are like dogs...you have to run them. It's because of this that my family is always out-and-about on the weekends. Once we leave the house in the morning, odds are we are not returning until late at night. In order to do this as frequently as we do and have it be a FUN experience, you must be prepared! And for us, being prepared means bringing our well-loved diaper bag with us wherever we go. The "Diaper Dude" was originally bought for my husband so he wouldn't have to carry around my girlie diaper bag. But we quickly learned that my diaper bag replenishing skills were pretty abysmal. More times than not, when we left the house with my bag, we'd reach for a diaper or a wipe or a burp cloth or a FLL-IN-THE-BLANK and there would be nothing in the bag. So by pure Darwinism, the Diaper Dude lived on and my husband, Olly, has the unofficial (official) title of Chief Bag Officer. Or CBO. It comes in especially handy if we're out and we realize we forgot something for Jenson and I just have to remind him of his big title to keep the accountability in check.

But in all seriousness, the bag makes our life on-the-go so much easier and we always have a running list of essentials in the bag. You can see in the video below what we tend to keep in the bag. The contents vary slightly according to seasons and the toys rotate as Jenson develops. We've also learned the hard way to always keep plastic baggies for dirty diapers and pack MULTIPLE backup shirts and pants.

ESSENTIALS OF OUR BAG:

Diapers and wipes

Butt cream and powder

Face and nose wipes

Bib

Spoon

Jacket

A few shirts and pants

Books

Crayons

Water bottle

Pouches and a tupperware of snacks

Sunscreen

Balls

Toy cars, bubbles

Pacifier