The La Poule aux potes de Cahors bar is transformed into a workshop for parents, one Sunday a month

Thursday and Friday evenings are public holidays. Sunday is family time. Since February, the association bar La Poule aux potes de Cahors has been offering workshops for parents one Sunday a month. Six Cadurciennes mothers are at the initiative of this project. In 2021 they had babies almost at the same time and were looking for a place to meet, help each other, exchange and even breathe. “On Friday we came with all our strollers, it was a traffic jam,” Fanny Benhaïm recalls. Rather than double park them, Fanny, Roxane, Coralie, Adrienne, Emmanuelle and Vanessa decide to find a place to welcome them and for a special moment with their children aged 18 months to 2 years. “And we said to ourselves why look for a place when we already have a bar, which the children are used to and appreciate”, continues Fanny, the mother of Thelma, 22 months old, already a regular at the place, in her father’s arms. This is how chicks are born to friends.

“The idea is to weave social ties and solidarity by meeting once a month,” explains Roxane Fouché, the mother of 18-month-old Pierre. Every last Sunday of the month, therefore, single parents, aunts, grandparents, mothers and fathers are invited to meet from 3.30pm.

20 children in a make-up workshop

Sometimes we don’t talk about parenting at all and that’s okay too. “It’s also about breastfeeding, about food diversification, we share our experiences but we also have to talk about something else,” says Roxane. Games are available.

And the shops in the center play the game: the Apprentice has already lent out almost a dozen games for children. A make-up workshop with natural products brought together up to 20 children. “We didn’t think we had so many people, we were also amazed to see that we had managed to go beyond the confines of our little microcosm of La Poule aux potes,” adds Fanny. The mothers prepare cakes, pancakes and waffles offered at free prices. The concept is so attractive that the Cadurciennes now want to go further. Negotiations are underway with the Caf to receive financial assistance. They also want to involve a musician who specializes in musical awakening, a pediatrician from Maternal and Child Protection and a lactation consultant. At the hen, the chicks still have a bright future ahead of them.