The OBG 1st Birthday Party!

By Tami Grosset
Photos by Kim Brooks

A few weeks ago the realisation that the Ottawa Babywearing Group had hit its first birthday filtered through to my central cortex! I could not remember exactly when the group was 'born' and Facebook was not helping me with any exact dating but a member of the group suggested that, based on the first recorded photo in the group, it was approximately March 20th. Sadly we'd missed our birthday by a week or so!

Today, April 21st 2013, we finally celebrated our first birthday! A group of us met at Parliament Hill on this bright sunny spring morning. The skies were incredibly blue which set off the Parliament buildings beautifully.

 By 11am there was a good collection of babywearers by the Eternal Flame. A colourful collection of various carriers including many wraps and soft structured carriers. There were even some children wearing their loveys, suggesting that we were preparing the next generation of OBG members!

At 11am we each found our snack food (a cake, muffin or some other yummy eatable). We stuck our birthday candles in the top and tried desperately to light them in the chilly spring breeze. It seemed ridiculously impossible so eventually we just launched into a loud and ever so slightly out of tune rendition of 'Happy Birthday to Us'! We then 'blew out' the candles that had refused to light and scoffed down our yummies!

During the morning each member received a $5 off voucher from Milkface Nursingwear (many thanks Britt!!) and many people contributed to a cash fund for our friend and co-member Cassandra who has recently become homeless and whose family is in need of some support. The cash is still being counted but I would estimate it being around about $50. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the cash collection and to those who have helped Cassandra's family in other ways this past week.

Many members picked up packs of 10 cards with which they can share the OBG love with other babywearers they meet. We expect many OBG members to connect with other OBG members using these cards as well.

                                         

Over the past week, running up to today our group hit and exceeded 500 members! This morning was a fabulous way to celebrate this milestone and hopefully spread the love and joy of babywearing to some unsuspecting tourists and passersby!