Tuesday morning we found ourselves at the Ottawa Hospital in a small, windowless room with two extremely lovely volunteers who run the gift shop.
Marielle and Thérèse are my new favourite people - what we thought would be an intimidating foray into the world of retail negotiations quickly transformed into sharing stories about our children, learning about what sells and what sits at the gift shop and general excitement about the Mom Friends mission.
Intergenerational momming
When discussing our postpartum care kits Marielle and Thérèse had a faraway stare in their eyes and said things like ‘If this had been around when I gave birth…’ and ‘I would have bought this for my daughter to comfort her after I became a grandmother, because as a mom you always want to give your children the best and help them.’ This was just two days after mother’s day so yes I did get a bit weepy.
They loved the adult diapers, they loved the pads, they agreed that witch hazel and Tucks can be extremely relieving for swelling ‘down there.’ And then Marielle noticed the newest addition to our postpartum care kits, and things got intense, real quick.
Pause for chocolat
The newest addition to our kits which Marielle is so excited about is none other than a chocolate bar from Hummingbird Chocolate. THE Hummingbird Chocolate who were recently crowned the best chocolate makers. In the world. AND they have an ‘Oh Mama’ bar - some things are meant to be.
Owner-operated businesses are awesome
Not only are they the best, they’re local, calling Almonte Ontario home after travelling and living around the world. In starting up Mom Friends we have had the pleasure of working with and supporting several local businesses, and we’re thrilled to add this one to the roster (and bring all the delicious to all the moms).
Supporting local in action
Back to the gift shop scene, superstar volunteer Marielle has been raving about Hummingbird for 20 minutes, telling us an elaborate and endearing story of how owner Erica welcomed her group of friends for a tour of the chocolate making process at their shop just days after they had been awarded their top-of-the-world prize. At a time when their shelves were bare from a flood of orders from around the globe - when Erica could have cut the chit-chat to focus on making more of the chocolate that was flying off their shelves - she took the time to get to know Marielle and her friends and to share her passion for the craft. That’s a good neighbour, and that’s what supporting local looks like.
Welcome to our postpartum care kits, Hummingbird.
