It's been a month now since the last operating day of Stay & Play. With that change and the arrival of Susanna, which went hand in hand, the McCalls have really entered a new chapter of life. It feels so good to be single minded in approaching my work with the kids and at home, even though that has meant the loss of the cafe for us and for the community. It was clear to us that our family was not able to give any more when our third child arrived, and so there has been minimal sadness about losing the workload it put on us. But at the same time, I feel sad for our community because I do still wholeheartedly believe that parents need a place like Stay & Play, and I wish it were there for them. Definitely the best part of the job was helping to connect the parenting community in our town. Wherever we went with our kids for a while, we knew the other families from the cafe, and I know a lot of other people felt the same. I am thankful that we were able to get this thing running for a while--Stay & Play was a great chapter for us even though at times the priority conflicts, time crunches, and financial strains it caused were intense. Another sad note was the actual unfolding of the end of the business. Although it is so exciting to watch the energy build around downtown Durham, the cafe's ultimate demise was due to a rent increase from our landlords who themselves were an indie business, one of the pioneers in operating downtown. I had a teacher in middle school whose words I return to often the older I get and the more of life I experience, "If you want to understand history, follow the bouncing dollar." That certainly explains the final chapter in Stay & Play's story.
Here is a little photo tribute to the last days of Stay & Play . . .
Susanna did get to visit while we were still open--photo evidence!
Nora's last visit while open
Ella's last visit while open
If you needed more evidence that running a cafe is too much for a Stay at Home Mother of 3, here is a photo of the minimum equipment it takes to dash out of the house. I do not travel light these days!
We came in after the closing one day to take care of some things, and Ella decided to give a final tour:
We will miss you Stay & Play Snack Cafe!!!
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