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A day on the job

By ELLEN MOSES
Published January 26, 2005

Toni Kennedy: 40. Owner, Mother Hubbard's Cupboard, 689 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. N, St. Petersburg, 504-9843

How would you describe your business?

Mother Hubbard's Cupboard is, literally, an indoor playground. It is a climate-controlled, toddler, infant power zone where moms can commune with their children and each other. . . . It is a completely childproofed environment and you can see your child from any point in the room, which allows moms to relax and enjoy talking to other moms.

How long have you been open?

Since Sept. 18, 2004.

How many hours a week do you work?

I would have to say about 50, especially if I work birthday parties on Saturday and Sunday. I normally work from 9 a.m. till about 5 p.m. or later. I'll stop, pick the kids up from school and feed the family and then bring the kids back over and they'll help clean up or I'll come back and finish up myself, so it varies.

So you work every day?

Yes, sometimes every day!

What happens when you get sick?

Oh, I think in the third year of having children, you learn that you can't get sick. If there's no birthday party on Saturday, that's the day I'm in bed with the NyQuil and resting all day and recuperating.

What is your daily routine like?

I hand wash and sanitize everything, all the toys and things, and my kids will help with that. Paige is now 12 and Wyatt is 10 and they help me out a lot. Paige has worked very single birthday party with me. She's such a great icebreaker with the kids.

How would you describe your primary job responsibilities?

My primary job responsibility, I would think, is to make the moms as comfortable as possible when they come here, so that they can regenerate. . . . So when they come in, it's my pleasure to hold the baby for a while, or get them a cup of coffee, so they can go home feeling regenerated.

What do you have for the kids to play with?

I've got a dressup station, an oversized playhouse and play kitchen equipment. I've got a computer . . . that I've taught a couple of the 2- and 3-year-olds to do totally independent. Lots of cause-and-effect toys, collapsible tunnels to crawl through, oversized building blocks and a soft foam climbing area. I've got an inflatable for the kids to bounce in, and the parents can bounce too.

What is the most popular with the kids?

I would say the dressup clothing, even with the little boys, which is sometimes very funny. That and the kitchen playthings.

How much does it cost to play here?

Everyday play is $8 for one child, and two to three children per family is $11 dollars. Any play group or family of four or more is $5 per child. That's for all day if you want. I also have a 30-day pass that's $55 for a single child or $70 for multiple children and it's unlimited visits for 30 days.

What kind of training or background do you have?

I am a (college) dropout. I had enrolled in American University and started to study child psychology but quit and joined a rock band and moved to Aruba with the band, Stevie and the Hotheads, which was a local St. Pete band.

You moved to Aruba?

It was warm and I was 19 and we had a steady gig there. After the band broke up, I sang a bit, then moved to Milan and modeled for a while. Later, I moved to Hawaii and modeled and sang for a while. Then I moved to New York and got married. But I always wanted to be a mom, which is why I wanted to experience all that before I settled down.

What other jobs have you had?

I was a makeup artist for several television shows in New York. I worked on the movie The Best Man, and from that I became Whitney Houston's personal makeup artist, and I literally traveled the world with her for two years. I officially quit in 2000. I missed my kids; I was severely depressed and felt like I wasn't living my life's purpose.

So what did you feel was your life's purpose?

This is it. My life's purpose was to be a mom. What I really wanted was to put the kids first. I was a home day care provider for a while, and I had some incredibly wonderful days with the babies. This business kind of grew out of that. I wanted a place where babies could grow and bounce . . . the sofa wasn't a good place for that.

What kind of certification do you have?

I am state licensed for interim child care, and I know infant CPR and first aid.

What is interim child care?

On Wednesdays, I have Wee Kids Day when the moms can drop their kids off up to three hours. It's from 9 a.m. to 12, or 12 to 3 and it's $27. Moms sign up ahead of time, and if there are more than five independently mobile kids, then I staff with other grownups who are infant CPR certified.

What is your favorite thing about this job?

I would say my favorite thing about the job is the interaction with the kids - they crack me up! I love what I do. I think you can feel it when you walk in. I hope so anyway.

Are there any hidden hazards of the job?

Yeah, because I do think of these women as my friends, I sometimes forget that they are my clientele. And sometimes I might say something to them that I maybe shouldn't say to a client. . . . I wouldn't really think about it at the time, but later maybe wonder how appropriate was that.

What kind of personality traits do you need to run an operation like this?

You have to have patience; you have to have the ability to just accept that this is what's going on in this moment. If a child's in the middle of a temper tantrum, that's just the way it is.

How much money do you make?

Does everything go back into the business? Yes. I would like to be able to pay myself a salary by the beginning of the second year. That hasn't happened yet.

What would your dream job be?

My dream job would be to host a television show, taped here at this location, where the kids can play and we could have coffee table talk with the moms. . . . There are so many moms who would benefit from knowing that we're all going though the same things and trying to understand the same things.

Where did the name Mother Hubbard's Cupboard come from?

It just rolls off your tongue. I don't know. Like everything with me, it wasn't premeditated; it's just what it was. When I envisioned this place, I would obviously call it Mother Hubbard's Cupboard. It's a space that's small, compact, safe. It's traditional, it's "home."

[Last modified January 26, 2005, 00:13:15]