So where did we leave off? We had discovered that the missing piece of the canister was actually in the canister. Meh. That should have been the end of it. Ya right. See below.
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Why? Dear God Why?

We replaced the missing piece! It was fine! Just in case you're not sure what you're looking at, you're looking at Davina filling a whole frakking milk frother thingy with whipping cream 'cause the frakking thing wouldn't stop spewing everywhere!  Breathe.

Back to the drawing board. What the hell is the matter with this thing?

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So Davina took it apart. And this is what she found. See that wee plastic washer type thing? It's busted. That's why the damned thing splooges all over the place. So we went next door to look at a replacement piece. The guy in the kitchen store had, of course, never seen this happen to this piece in 30 years. Also, the piece would be $12. We tried to look up the manufacturer directly but they are in Taiwan and don't have a properly accessible website. So we deemed the solution to be.......

... buying a whole new canister plus ordering the new part for the old one. Soon we will have two. Yay!

Davina went into the back - again. Made whipped cream - again. Filled the canister - again. Reappeared eager to show me how well it worked and how much control she had over it.

So naturally she sprayed it all over me. My legs, the floor and right through the air vents in my shoes. Nice.

God willing that ends the saga of the whipped cream.

 
Wine in hand and child sleeping, I finally feel able to attempt to describe the events of this evening.

I have to start by asking if you ever have one of those days where you laugh so hard and uncontrollably that tears are streaming down your face and you can't stop? That was me and Davina an hour ago in the car.

Tonight we had a speaking engagement. Ya, you heard right. People wanted to hear us talk about the cafe, our experiences getting this far, etc.... It was at George Brown and was to their class of entrepreneurs.

It was through George Brown that we were able to do our business plan and get our money from the CYBF in the first place. We're their success story, so they asked us to come in and give a talk. I think they may have outlined what we were supposed to talk about, but of course, we didn't have time to prepare or anything. And, of course, we had the kids with us.

So we squeeze 5 dozen apples, 4 dozen eggs, 3 kids, 2 adults, 1 stroller and a partridge in a pear tree into Davina's car and head to George Brown. We explain the need for good behaviour to the children. We arrive.

The five of us are led into a room with about a dozen young would-be entrepreneurs who are full of questions and we answer them and generally explain how we go about doing things. The kids eat granola out of take out coffee cups on the floor.

Then the kids start getting restless. Then they start making noise. Someone attempts to occupy them with Sponge Bob videos on a computer. We attempt to appear professional and answer questions intelligently while being constantly distracted by the voices of our children in the way that only the voice of your own child can distract you. At some point Avon wanders over to Davina and gives her his dirty diaper that he's just taken off. Nice.

Questions answered and students seemingly impressed we decide the kids aren't going to last 5 more minutes and it's time to go. There is granola ALL OVER THE FLOOR. We apologize profusely. We tell the kids we're leaving and Kai and Jazzy bolt from the room. Kai rounds the corner (to where a class is being lectured to) and jumps up and down, cup of granola in hand. Granola all over ANOTHER FLOOR. Jazzy bolts through a door and sets off the fire alarm. We are all apologies and then we get the hell out of dodge.

We get back to the car to discover that Davina diligently locked the doors but left the drivers side door actually AJAR. The locks don't do much when the frakkin' door is open.

In the car, it is a cacophony of "Mommy! Mommy!" "I'm hungry!" "Can I have some more cereal" "Croissant!" "Where's my juice box?" "I want water!" "Where are we going?" "I want that!" "No! I want that!"

Davina and I can't even hear each other. Jazzy comes through the loudest with her tremendous upset that Davina threw away her empty cup of cereal. She really really wanted that cup. Her displeasure overtook the car. Davina tried to console her, but dammit, she wanted that cup. Finally, Kai who is sitting beside Jazzy, mere inches from her (wait for the relevance), usurps her hold on the conversation by asking for a croissant. I hand him the one Avon insisted I take back from him (after demanding it in the first place). Kai, taking the croissant now needs to free up his hands. "Here mommy take this". A FRAKKIN' EMPTY CUP. I just looked at Davina she at me. I painstakingly pass the cup from Kai to Jazzy, who finally stopped whining about her missing cup!

That was it. The straw. You know the one. The last one. Laughter, tears and the need for booze right now. Speaking of booze right now...... I'm off to stare at the TV and drink.

See you in the morning.


 
We received this in the mail from a grateful mom.

"Playful Grounds. Everyone had such a great time at XXXXXX's birthday party. The food was fantastic, and the space was perfect for the kids to have fun while the adults could visit with one another. Having you both take care of everything saved the day!"

This makes me happy.
 
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So here we go. Today I tried to add whip to kids hot chocolate. It worked fine yesterday, I swear. Today, it spluttered and splooged and generally seemed pretty sad. I shook it. I heard nothing. I only realized that in retrospect. Of course what I should have heard was the same thunking sound that I heard yesterday. But I'm tired. And I drink. So I deemed the canister to be empty and suggested to Davina that she make more whipped. The lost piece was indeed in the canister and had wedged itself in the EXACT spot to prevent any cream from exiting the canister. Sigh. I'd like to say that I think this concludes the Saga Of The Whipped Cream... but I doubt it.



 
Who would've thunk that whipped cream would be so challenging or be the cause of so many laughs? Well, the laughs part I could have guessed but the challenging part? We make our own whipped. It's organic and yummy and easy to make. After blending the ingredients, you simply pour the mixture into your handy dandy whipped cream dispenser, attach the CO2 cartridge and splooge all over your closest friend. Easy peasy.

Ya. Right.

The first time we did it, smooth creamy whip erupted all over the front counter sink which left Davina frantically trying to figure out where to spray it. I don't think we were even open yet.

A week or so later, Davina told me we were out of whipped. I took the canister into the back and when I started to unscrew the CO2, it EXPLODED. There isn't a font big enough to describe the amount of creamy whip that was all over me, the sinks, the walls, the appliances - EVERYTHING. Clearly it was not empty. Again, much laughter ensued.

Next, a few weeks later, Davina confidently went into the back to make more whipped. She mixed it, poured it, assembled it and came running back out to properly complete a yummy mocha. She added the topping and it just kept going. Now that was a sight to see. Davina holding the canister over mug after mug and eventually straight into the sink, of yummy, creamy stuff shooting out of a long cylindrical tube. Let the jokes fly.

Finally we got the hang of it.

Then one day after I had emptied the dishwasher and put the pieces of the dispenser aside, Davina had made more whip and reassembled the canister and asked where the piece was which holds the CO2 cartridge. I showed her where I thought I had seen it, but it wasn't there. Neither of us could find it anywhere. We took the kitchen apart. Eventually we concluded that it must have fallen off of the back of the table into one of the beer cases and had probably been returned to the beer store.

We ordered a new piece.  No whip for days equals sad.

The new piece came yesterday equals happy!

We attached the new piece to the already filled canister and were ready to go! We shook it. We heard something rattling around in the canister. What could it be? We didn't know. What could be in there. Ya, whatever could it be.

If you come to the cafe in the next few days and order something with whipped cream, you will hear a clicking sound as me and Davina laugh at each other. We won't know for sure until this canister is empty, but I'm sure it's the missing piece which went straight from the dishwasher into the canister for safe keeping.


 
I know I'm really overdue for a proper entry. I've been swamped. I promise to do one soon! In the meantime, I'll just add the e-mail that I'm sending out in case anyone who wants to read what's new around here isn't actually on our mailing list:

I wanted to send an e-mail to let you know of some new things at the café. We have holidays coming up! We will certainly have some specials for Easter and fun stuff for Mothers Day. And we’ll have some yummy chocolate covered Matzo for Passover! All the details will be on the site at www.playfulgrounds.com

Speaking of the site, I’m gradually adding more to it and making changes to make it more readable.  

I decided that we need a Funny Of The Day section. Too many things happen around here that seem to just encapsulate the fun and games of running our own business. So we now have a section for it. Feel free to visit often. I hope it makes you laugh even one tenth of the amount that we laughed while these things were happening!  http://www.playfulgrounds.com/funny-of-the-day.html

We are changing up the menu. Adding brunch! Among the new additions are “Playful Eggs”, Caesars,  Sangria and a selection of salads. The updated menu will be online shortly and will be up on the boards in the café starting on Monday.

We now have Gift Certificates. They come in denominations of $10 and are a perfect gift for all the moms you know out there. They are displayed on the front counter in the café.

We ran two workshops this week, both of which were very successful. There are more booked over the next few weeks including a fitness workshop (how to get your body back), a fundraiser for the Children’s Book Bank (storytellers and facepainters and more!), and a financial planner to help with saving for your little one, debt management etc…. Sign up by e-mail or in the café on the board at the back. More info is here: http://www.playfulgrounds.com/parties-events-and-workshops.html

Our hours are changing. We are about to be open on SUNDAYS! Planning for April. Watch the site for the details. http://www.playfulgrounds.com/hours-and-location.html

We also have a comment card available in the café. If you can think of any convenience that we’ve missed, please fill out a card. We will also draw one card per month for a FREE $10 GIFT CERTIFICATE!

 
One of the first things so many parents say when they come in to the cafe for the first time is 'Thank you! Thank you for opening!'.  I have to say how happy this makes me! This is what we were going for. There were a lot of nay sayers when we were trying to gather funds to get this cafe off the ground. A lot of people who said "Do you really think there's a market for that? I mean, moms have all that free time - they can just go anywhere." Seriously. No word of a lie. We knew that we knew what we were talking about, but damn a little validation is nice. So below are a few comments we've received via e-mail:

"I don't have a question to ask, I just wanted to say this place sounds AWESOME! I will definitely be by with my 16 month old XXXXX. Congrats and good luck to you ladies! :)"

"wow - i can't wait to come to your cafe
i will be there soon and i will tell my friends"

"Congrats on the new business. Brilliant idea."

"I think what you are doing is terrific. You should be very proud of yourselves! Congratulations and I wish you tremendous success. If I'm in the neighborhood I will pop in and support you, with our without my child!"

"Please open a location in Leaside. There are so many stay at home mums and dads in this area with no child friendly coffee shops. We would love for you to open a Playful Grounds on Bayview!"

"Really happy to see someone setup a child friendly space in this neighbourhood. I have heard that the cafe will only be open weekdays initially. I hope you do consider setting up weekend hours. For those of us no longer on maternity leave, and not stay at home moms, the only days we can visit are Saturday and Sunday. I think moms and dads will want to go out as a family and enjoy the space. I hope you consider this, but I also realize it may be tough to do this right off the bat! Good luck in this business - I think there's a huge demand for a space like this."

Thank you to everybody who has supported us. Please keep it up so we can be around for a long time and open all the branch locations that you've requested!




 
Two weeks down - the rest of our lives to go!

So what have I learned at the end of week two? During our first week we were pretty sure Wednesday would be a good day to be closed as our sales were abysmal. This past week Wednesday was our best day yet. So I've learned that I have no idea what the patterns are or, indeed, if there are any patterns. I know that we will need to open Sunday as soon as possible. And maybe we'll just have to choose a weekday arbitrarily to close.

I've learned that plumbers are expensive. As are electricians - both of which we've needed. I've also learned that Davina and I should not screw around with the equipment once it has been placed where it belongs (hence the need for the plumber).

We are rolling out food this week. Well, more food. Pretty exciting. In addition to our other food stuff, we now have Paninis. Chicken and veggie and they're pretty good if I do say so myself.

I've also learned that I'm no spring chicken and I'm tired! We need to hire a part-timer asap, but we sort of need to do a full month to figure things our before we hire, so it'll be just a few more weeks of us doing everything.

We've also realized that we have a damn great space. It's perfect for evening events such as birthday parties, both kiddie and grown up, book launches, art openings and baby showers. If anyone out there wants to use our space for an event, please contact us. We've even got caterers all lined up.

That's it for now I think. I think I need a drink.


 
_ I’ve been thinking a lot about what moms go through, feeling like their children are an imposition on the people around them. I myself spend a great deal of time apologizing to strangers for myself, my bag, my stroller and my child; I am mortified when my three year old son behaves like a three year old in public. Don’t get me wrong, I believe that I am just as entitled to be on the bus, in the restaurant or walking along the sidewalk as anyone else. It’s just that I’m not sure my fellow TTC companions, café patrons or pedestrians feel the same way and there is plenty of evidence to back up that fear.

Recently, several news media outlets picked up on a story out of London England which described a scenario in which a mother was charged a ‘child tax’ on her bill. Two mothers in two separate instances were charged an extra 3 pounds, or 5 dollars, because they had children in tow who were not ordering from the menu. One child was 6 weeks old and the other was 6 months old. Both were exclusively breast fed. Turns out the employees at the restaurant who added the tax did so in error. The restaurant does reserve the right to enforce their ‘Minimum Charge Policy’ which “is intended for toddlers who eat but not as much as a child. It was and never will be intended as a charge for Prams or for babies”. The restaurant issued a formal apology on its website and that was that. Case closed, ya? Far from it.

News outlets ranging from CBC to Breakfast Television are debating this issue. The big question? Should parents be allowed to take up space with their “spittle-strewn bundles of joy”? Should parents have to pay for the space the stroller is occupying? I’ve never heard anyone ask that about an elderly person’s walker. What about a Seeing Eye dog? For that matter, what about a wheelchair?

There are plenty of places which cater to the stroller and its occupant; toy stores, drop in parent centres, and of course, McDonalds, to name a few. The thing is those places are all for the child; places mom can take baby where everything will be for the baby. But what about the mom? The good news is the tides are changing. Mom and Tot activities are beginning to be available because of the recognition that mom still wants to maintain some semblance of a life.  Raising a child with all of the modern accoutrements is an expensive enough endeavor without having to pay a ‘tax’ just to bring your child/stroller into an establishment. To me that’s just prejudice plain and simple.

 

 

 

As for myself I will continue to apologize in the restaurants, the sidewalks, the streetcars. I’m gracious that way. Most moms are I think. Would I ever pay extra just to enter a restaurant with my kid? Never. I’ll hand my hard earned money over to the establishment that welcomes me, not the one who merely tolerates me.

 
So ends our first week of the cafe being open. Back a million years ago, on Tuesday, we thought Friday was the end of the week. By Wednesday we were admitting we would need to be open weekends as soon as possible. By Thursday we were arranging childcare and by Friday it was a certainty that we would be open on Saturday. Tomorrow I have lots of stuff for the cafe I should be doing but all I want to do is hang out with Kai and Duff and do play dates and hang around the house. By next week, we'll probably realize we need to be open Sunday, but that's another story.

This week went pretty well. We realized that Wednesday may be our dead day and in the end may be the day we close.

We've had some 'growing pains'. The usual adjustments of needing certain things to be in certain spaces, figuring out which things go best on which plate and trying to sort out morning and end of day duties, not to mention trying to keep the whole cash/read thing straight.

The number of times we've completely collapsed in hysterical laughter is a bit disturbing. Today I tried to refill the whipped cream canister. We make the whipped cream from scratch using organic products and don't like to waste it - obviously. I opened the canister to add more and discovered that it wasn't actually empty, just extremely pressurized. As soon as I started to unscrew it, it virtually exploded all over the prep kitchen. I screamed as I was covered in a spray of topping, as was the floor, the walls, the sinks, the dishwasher, the dishes.... everything.

At the same time, Davina was on her own out front and the coffee carafe which she thought was filling behind her while she served customers was actually overflowing. When she discovered it she frantically tried to hold little cups under the flow to stop the coffee from spreading under the machine, on to the floor and from running down the fridge.

Also, apparently if you dig long enough in a cafe you strike coffee. There are spots where coffee is literally coming up out of the floor. That is a post for another day. But don't worry, it's all under control!