Let Them Eat Cake

I’m not sure when exactly I began measuring my success as a mother by my ability to make my children’s birthday cakes but somehow that is what has happened. 8 years of birthdays and for the very first time, this year I bought a cake. Both of my son’s birthdays are in November and this year I just simply did not have the time or energy to make and decorate cakes. No big deal. Except for me, buying a cake elicited feelings of sheer failure. I love organising the children’s birthday parties. It’s always great to get all the family together and it’s a matter of debate as to whether I go a tad OTT.

There was the year I made a volcano cake, adorned with lava and an exploding flare. This was also the year I made 24 papier mache dinosaur eggs and filled them with treats for kids to take home (oh no, I couldn’t have been happy with party bags, could I?). There was the year I melted Fox’s Glacier mints in the oven, painted them blue with food colouring and smashed them into a million pieces to make a Frozen cake, whilst also cutting out 40 million paper snowflakes (some of which are still hanging 2 years later). Then there was last year when I made a three-tier cake entirely of my littlest’s favourite fruits, followed by a Tullow Rugby Club jersey cake and goalpost cookies, a week later.

This year I had a request for a Thomas the Tank Engine cake for a 2 year old's Sunday party. Saturday afternoon arrived and I was utterly devoid of energy. I found myself in Dunne’s Stores in a state of panic. I paced the baking aisle talking myself into baking and then talking myself out of it again. I searched for something that would pass for Thomas, but to no avail. I rang Tesco to see if they had any Thomas cakes but no luck there either. The very lovely baker in Dunne’s suggested I try phoning Rath’s, and so with a quiver in my voice, I found myself ordering an 8 inch jam and cream sponge cake. I breathed a sigh of relief that Ruairí would have his much loved ‘choo, choo Thomas ‘licious’ cake but I also felt as if I was letting him down, which I’m aware is nonsense. But the feelings were very real.

Somewhere along the line, I set myself a very high standard and this month I didn’t reach it. But you know what, that’s O.K. My eldest is having his party tomorrow and as I type there is no cake. I fear
I’ve started down a slippery slope. Maybe I packed all my best children’s party planner days
into the last 8 years. Or maybe 2016 will go down as the year I realised I simply cannot do it all. Either way, the cake was delicious and I should know, I spent most of Sunday evening standing in front of the fridge, eating it with a spoon. Failure? Winner? Jury is out!