When I was in my 20s, was single and had only myself to look out for, my purse was fairly empty. I kept very little with me, only carrying a wallet, a comb and perhaps an eyeliner pencil and some lipstick. (Those were the days before cell phones.)

These days, my purse just keeps getting bigger — my husband not so affectionately now calls my purse my bowling-ball bag.

That’s because I no longer carry the slim pocketbooks I carried when I was younger. Now, my purse is filled with a Kindle for the time I spend in parking lots waiting to pick up my kids, a little makeup (but I still only carry a lipstick and an eyeliner), a first-aid kit (filled with adhesive bandages, Neosporin and kids dosages of pain reliever and allergy medicine), a mini datebook (on which to keep track of my daughters’ multiple activities), my cell phone, and a mini ledger in which I note my credit card purchases.

My wallet has grown, too. Back in my 20s, my wallet held my license, a credit card and my AAA card. Now, it is filled with my ID card and my kids’ ID cards for our medical insurance, a few store credit cards (through which I get special deals and discounts) and plenty of customer frequent shopper cards for local stores.

Like my waistline, my pocketbook could use some slimming down. I could go without some of the items I now carry, perhaps, or maybe I could keep a second bag in the car for the items I don’t want to lug around in my purse, but still want to have on hand. (Perhaps items like the first aid kit, datebook and ledger could be kept in the car.) My datebook is a bit old-fashioned — I could perhaps ditch it and just keep track of my family’s appointments on my cell phone.