Why Do Some Small Children — Like Stormi Webster — Insist Upon Carrying Purses?
Kylie Jenner's tot isn't the only kid who loves to tote a tote around.
The latest Instagram snap of Stormi Webster has some serious awww factor. The little girl is walking down the stairs with the help of her dad, Travis Scott, all while hanging onto a pink, pint-sized purse. The baby and her baby Birkin bag are on the go, and they can't be stopped.
Now, we may not have been lucky enough to have a pocketbook worth thousands of dollars when we were children, but it doesn't mean that some of us were any less attached to carrying around a purse, and that's before we could understand its purpose.
I, for one, had a beaded bag that I loved carrying when I was 2 or 3 years old (as I recall from pictures of myself at that time). I'm not entirely sure what I kept in there (and neither are my parents)... but I'm assuming some combination of spare change, "found objects" and a couple of my beloved Monchhichi figurines.
Enough about me, and back to Exhibit A of Stormi and her purse below.
And now here she is toddling down the steps: "She won’t let go of that purse," Jenner captioned the Instagram video.
Similarly, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' Dorit Kemsley shared in a recent Instagram Story that her 3-year-old daughter, Phoenix, also has an attachment to a little pink purse.
So, what's up with kids carrying purses? Well, babies are known to mimic, and if baby sees mommy pick up a bag and sling it over her shoulder, chances are she'll try it herself before long. Once kids get older, the desire to carry a purse often comes from having actual money to put inside, peer pressure from friends, and wanting to feel more grown-up. Still, it's the little ones, pre-allowance money, that are extra adorable, like Stormi and Phoenix.
"The idea that we can own something, possess it as if a part of ourselves, is one that children grasp by the age of two," according to an article on The Psychology of Stuff and Things. It also explains why some children are attached to a particular object (like a blanket or "lovey") that they carry around everywhere.
This can also play a role in kids and purses. But, let's be real: Purses are also useful places to store various treasures that kids may fixate on like sugar packets, rocks, and other items that may seem to be junk to adults .. and who among us doesn't have at least one item in our purse right now that another person would consider garbage?
Credit: Kylie Jenner/Instagram, Dorit Kemsley/Instagram
