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"Mommy, mommy, mommy" if I hear that name one more time I'm going to...

When my third child started the chant I thought about changing my name and moving out. Sure I could see the kids at the holidays and I'd send pictures, but instead I reached for my mommy bag found a new paperback, plucked out a fancy tea bag and a bar of dark chocolate and headed for my office for a little me time. Seeing me reach for the bag stopped my son mid-mom. He knows when mommy has her bag it's her time out. As I headed for my time out, I heard him say to his older sister "you have to watch me, mom's in time out".

My mommy bag sits in my hall closet ready to be used at a moments notice. What's in my mommy bag?

Reminders to take time for myself without the guilt. Sometimes I just use it to plan my next "me" trip, glossy catalogs for writers conferences, spas, cruises, fantasy trips I might never take, flyers about new classes in yoga, Pilates or pottery get tucked away in the pockets for perusing at my leisure. Little treats I find at the gourmet supermarket or at the world market go in there. Gift cards for spa treatments, restaurant menus, soy candles, paperbacks, sample perfumes and spa products. Who started my mommy bag? It was a gift from my dear mother-in-law at the christening of my first daughter. A mother of five boys she whispered it was the only thing that kept her sane. "No guilt" she whispered when she handed me the canvas bag stuffed with magazines, dark chocolate, lotions and paperbacks. As I gazed into my sweet daughter's cherubic face I couldn't imagine ever needing any "me" time again. O.k. I was wrong.

My mommy bag has become a much validated member of the family. They know if mommy has her time, she laughs and loves more.On birthday's and holiday's and anniversaries I find extra treats into the bag. Just last week I found a bottle of expensive perfume and some handmade paper I had been drooling over. They get it.After all the kids have their toy box.

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