Moms don’t get the recognition they deserve! As a business run BY local moms FOR local moms, Boston Moms is excited to showcase the hard work local moms are doing — both at home and in their professions.
Boston Moms is proud to feature Tracy Skelly for this “Meet a Boston Mom Monday!” Tracy is the mom to and founder of The Little Cocoa Bean Company.
Join us in celebrating Tracy and the important contributions she makes at home and at work!
We asked Tracy to share a bit about herself. Get to know her here!
Full name: Tracy Skelly
Occupation/business name: The Little Cocoa Bean Company
Children: Sophia, 19 months
Hometown: Oak Park, California
Favorite local restaurant: Ooh, this is tough! Just one?! Probably Toro. Tasty tapas are my jam.
Favorite local business or brand: I live in Roslindale. The Birch Street House and Garden in Rosi Square is the sweetest little shop. I can always find great gifts and cards there.
Tell us a bit about your work/job: I am the founder and CEO of The Little Cocoa Bean Company. The Little Cocoa Bean Company provides caregivers with fresh, ready-made baby and toddler foods featuring a wide variety of vegetables, fruits, grains, and spices. Our foods are inspired by global favorites and feature non-western ingredients for food/nutrient diversity in addition to nutrient density. Additionally, we provide recipes, tutorials, and videos to teach caregivers how to identify, find, and prepare meals at home using our favorite ingredients.
What is the one thing that surprised you the most about motherhood? I wasn’t prepared to love my child as much as I do. That felt strange to type out, but the minute I thought about erasing it, I remembered one of the benefits of being part of a mom group; you all understand what I mean. I knew I’d love my baby, but I wasn’t prepared for this kind of love. There’s absolutely nothing like it. I love her on a cellular level. It’s a love I can’t describe with words because all the words are insufficient.
What is one piece of advice you’d offer another working mom? My advice starts with a story. When I was young, my parents moved our family from the city to the ‘burbs. For years there was a room in our house, a formal sitting room of sorts, that didn’t have any furniture in it. Nothing at all. My brother and I would use that room for wrestling matches, gymnastic routines, sleepovers with our friends, and lots of cartwheels. We loved that room. Eventually, my parents filled the room with formal furniture, and we had to move our shenanigans elsewhere. A few years ago, my brother and I were talking about the room without furniture and how much we loved it. My mom shook her head and laughed. She revealed that they were so ashamed of that room. When they moved us to the suburbs, they felt like they had to do it to keep us away from the violence that plagued so many inner cities at the time. However, they could barely afford the new home, so all the extras (like furniture for a formal sitting room) had to wait. They worried we’d notice the difference between our friends’ fully furnished homes and our own. Well, they were right. We did notice. We noticed that none of our friends had awesome, empty rooms on the main floor where anything was possible! As working moms, we often feel like we’re not doing enough, giving enough, present enough, providing enough, (fill in the blank) enough. But while we’re wasting time worrying about what’s missing, our babies are doing cartwheels and enjoying the gloriously simple pleasures in life. Perhaps going forward we can give ourselves a little break and a lot of grace.
What is one way you take care of yourself?: Friday evenings aren’t for working. I take the night off and I watch movies, read books, and catch up with friends.
List two other women who inspire you (can be local or celebrity): The fabulous Michelle Obama and civil rights activist Angela Davis.
You can keep up with Tracy on Instagram! Follow her at @littlecocoabeanco and @mrstskelly.
Squeeze the whole bottle of glue into a bowl!
Add approximately 2/3 cup liquid starch.
Mix the glue and the liquid starch together until they form a slime consistency! 
Split the slime into three separate portions.
You can play with your three colors of star-spangled slime separately, make an American flag, or mix them all together for slimy, patriotic fun! 
Flexible straws
Gather six or seven straws together. 
Dip the straws in the red paint and stamp the paper. 
Dip the straws in the blue paint and stamp the paper again.
Add some glitter to make your fireworks sparkle! 
Prep the paint, and invite your little one to come participate. Sometimes we use a paint shirt and put plastic wrap or newspaper on our painting space to keep things as clean as possible. 
Clean up those paint-covered hands — a favorite trick of Chelsey’s is to put a bowl of soapy water out for her kiddo to “play in” while she washes her own hands and cleans up the other supplies.
Prepare the space. Use a disposable tablecloth for easy cleanup.
Instruct the children to place their hands behind their backs or on the sides of the paper plates.
Eat up!!!
Make some fun stations along the obstacle course. Ideas include hopping through hula hoops, crawling under pool noodles, climbing up the ladder on the swing set, sliding down the slide, walking on a makeshift balance beam. Use your imagination! 
Create a clear path that the obstacle course will follow. 
Race on through!
Celebrate! You did it!
