The Problem with Being a Tomboy...

...is that, sometimes, you need to have a purse.  And when you're a tomboy, you have a strict "no purses" policy.  When you're a tomboy, everyone knows it, so they don't buy you purses.  They buy you backpacks and camelpaks, running shoes and sports magazines.  But they never buy you a purse.

This became a problem last Friday night when I was getting ready to attend graduation as part of my job.  I have plenty of nice dress-up clothes, but I haven't needed a purse in several years.  I owned a nice one several years ago, but abandoned it for an oversized diaper bag.  Things get lost in this bag, and it resembles a miniature duffel bag.  It can hold multiple diapers, wipes, bibs, crackers, sippy cups, toys, books, and anything else necessary when leaving the house.  The diaper bag can take you to the moon and back, but it doesn't work for a graduation ceremony. 

Twenty minutes before the graduation began, I frantically ran around the house looking for a purse.  I looked, my husband looked, but the only dainty purse I had ever owned had gone missing.  It was now fifteen minutes until the graduation ceremony began.  At this point, I grabbed my daughter's play purse:  a white, flowery bag. 

"Does this look like it belongs to a 2-year old?" 

"No," my husband said, knowing that time was running out.  "Just go - you'll be late."

And so...I throw in my keys and license, and head out the door.  Because sometimes, even a tomboy needs to have a purse.  Even if I have to borrow it from my 2-year old daughter.