Bread Bags

Mamas are so creative and resourceful--even when it comes to finding ways to reuse bread bags. When my babies were actually still babies, I found that bread bags were useful for wrapping up dirty diapers to throw in the trash, since they seemed to somewhat contain the odor.

When my siblings and I were young, my Mama had another creative use for them: she put them on our feet! Why? Well, we didn't have snow boots, so on the rare occasion that it snowed in Memphis, TN, and we wanted to go out and play in it, Mama put Roman Meal bread bags on our feet between our socks and our shoes to help keep our feet dry. And to help keep them up and tight, she put rubberbands around them on our shins. Genius.

Maybe the most impressive re-use of the bread bag, however, was one I observed this summer on our family's vacation with the rest of my husband's family. We were all down on the beach, enjoying an evening of pizza and the sunset, when my almost-three-year-old niece announced that she needed to poop! Not wanting to make the trek all the way back up to the condo, my quick-thinking sister-in-law didn't miss a beat. She quickly snatched up one of the kid's sand pails and a bread bag with which to line the potty/pail, and she and her daughter traipsed up the dunes for a little more privacy. Again, genius.

My niece ended up having a false alarm, but we were grateful for the demonstrated improvisation, because not ten minutes later, my son announced that he had to poop! With great laughter, my husband grabbed the potty/pail, the bread bag, and my son, and they, too, headed for the dunes. A few minutes later, my son proudly held up his bread bag and announced its contents as he walked toward the trash can on the beach. It was pretty stinkin' funny.

Now fast-forward a week or so. My neighbor and her dog stop by to see my kids, who are playing in the front yard. After several minutes of chatting, she tells us that she and the dog need to move along, so she stoops down and picks up these little, filled plastic bags. Curious, my son says, "What is that?" To which my neighbor just smiles and says, "It's poop!" To which my son naturally and innocently asks . . . "Whose?"

Genius.

Mama Question: Do you have another creative re-use for bread bags? Obviously, anything goes!

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