I love birthdays. I know some people don't care or say they don't. But to me, celebrating another year of life is a beautiful thing.
Back in the day, Mum tried to make cakes from the Women's Weekly cookbook a handful of times, and they looked great. But after a few years, she decided it was much better for our little creative souls to decorate our own cakes, so she'd set us up at the kitchen bench. We would get covered in icing and create our masterpieces, which also worked out great.
I suspect this shift from "I'll make it" to "I'll let them create it" was a strategic parenting move because she was tired. After all, she was raising four kids under four and making birthday cakes on top of doing all that is just another thing to add to the list.
As a parent, I liked making the kid's cakes and kept making them up until mine were seven-ish (so almost the same amount as mum's, given I only had two kids, and she had four). We did a "decorate your own" cupcake party for my eldest's seventh birthday. Another strategic parenting move where the birthday activity was creating the cake.
By the way, I take my hat off to the cake makers amongst you!
To me, birthdays are a time when you can catch up with friends and family and feel a little bit special. If you're lucky, you can put your feet up too.
I have always made a big deal of my kid's birthdays - it celebrates the very day they were born. I can't think of a better reason to celebrate than that.
I let them choose their party themes as soon as they were old enough, and I was very creative when putting together their parties. I stayed up all night creating and making, and getting the day right for them so I could see their little faces light up. Now that I reflect, I can see they didn't need all of that, but I loved making it for them, and it gave me a creative outlet in the years I was in the parenting trenches.
Opening their birthday presents and the joy they felt in that moment is indescribable. Helping make someone that happy is a privilege that I am glad I have experienced in my lifetime.
Kids are so simple in terms of what brings them joy. And a birthday is one of those things. Let's all live every day like it's our birthday.
Today is my birthday. I'm off to celebrate another lap around the sun with good friends.
Enjoy these pictures of birthdays of past, and the cakes that made them.
