05/30/2026
As we continue our 20 years of Breadland story, this part is very close to our heart.
When we opened Breadland and started operating, my parents came to Canada to help us with Noel for the first six months. We were working very long hours, and in some ways we were used to that because we had done the same in Hungary.
But this time was different.
In Hungary, when we worked those long bakery hours, we did not have Noel yet. Now we had a child, and our priorities had changed. He was our priority.
We tried our best to make Breadland part of our family life, not separate from it. We truly worked together as a family.
In those early years, we worked overnight, and for at least a year Noel had his own little bedroom in the bakery office. During the summer, when there was no school, he would come and work with us overnight. We had no other choice. It was just the three of us, so he slept when we slept and was awake when we were awake.
That might sound hard for an eight-year-old, but I truly believe it gave him incredible experience and shaped him in a good way for life. He learned how to use the cash register, serve customers, braid challah bread, sweep the floor, wash dishes, and he did a great job with everything.
The only time he got into trouble was when he had nothing to do, so we learned quickly that we had to keep him busy. :)
Every morning, in his pajamas, Noel would have a chocolate croissant and a glass of milk in the café before we opened. And if he slept in a little, he didn’t mind being there in his pajamas even after the store was already open.
We were tired from lack of sleep, but we also had so much fun together.
We were excited to build Breadland, but family was always our priority. We tried our best. I know we probably didn’t always get it perfect, but we built this bakery together — as a family.
To be continued. 🤍
