Kids have birthdays every year.
This reality comes as no surprise to most parents. For whatever reason I am caught off guard each time a birthday rolls around. Last week we received a cute hand written invite to a birthday party three weeks away. This was the point I realized my own child was turning seven. In a few days.
I remember the days when perfect birthday parties were important to me. I planned elaborate cakes and cutesy themes. I poured over the Martha Stewart magazine dreaming up beautiful food displays and homemade pinatas. Invitees got an email to save the date well in advance followed by a handmade invite. Any friends of mine reading this are very confused right now wondering who this mythical Tammie is. All they’ve ever seen outta me is an email or classy text four days before the soiree. And that IS the invite.
Realizing time was of the essence, I turned to my birthday girl and asked what kind of cake and food she wanted for her party. Gone are the days of cheese slices cut into flowers and elaborate veggie displays. She wanted Spiderman shaped mac n cheese and pizza. I love her so much.
I still make birthday cakes for my kids from time to time. I thought I was entitled to retire from this duty after making an Angry Birds Cake three years ago that seriously would have won an award. Yes. I am bragging. It. Was. AWESOME.
Birthday girl said she wanted a Tangled cake. I reminded her that Frozen was all the rage and we should go that route. Because the truth is her mommy hasn’t loved a movie this much since Little Mermaid. And lets be honest here, these parties are partly for us.
She conceded perhaps a Tangle/Frozen combo would do. My mind couldn’t make sense of a Frangled cake. I reminded her that Anna, Elsa, and Rapunzel didn’t exactly know each other and having Rapunzel on the cake might look silly. But the six year old insisted so I lied and told her I would make it work. My plan was to surprise her with the most awesome Frozen cake I could whip together – limited only by my skill set and three day time frame.
The day before her party I figured I should get started.
I know I act like I am all above Pinterest but the truth is I use it when I need to. I searched “Frozen birthday cakes” and was instantly bombarded with amazing cakes most of which included artfully crafted fondant figurines. Not going to happen.
Then I saw this one:
![Image](http://twentyshekels.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/bc873944a3be64b383e4a73a557ba066.jpg?w=650&resize=390%2C623)
I am just guessing here. But I bet I could have ordered a little cake topper set if I’d planned ahead.
By some miracle, I had made sheets of hard candy for a homeschool project in the past. I figured: How hard can that cake be? I buy a figurine. I make some glass candy and smash it into pieces. I whip it together. And I become my daughter’s hero.
The hubby and I set out Saturday morning to purchase an Elsa toy to plop on top of the cake. After hitting three Targets and a Walmart (which is three more stores than my husband has patience for) I started to worry. It turns out that every little girl in the Twin Cities Metro had snapped up Elsa and no one bothered to tell us. In a moment of panic I grabbed an Anna and a Rapunzel. I figured Rapunzel could be visiting the ice castle after all.
Much to my chagrin, the kids wanted to watch me make the “ice” sheets. I forgot how long it takes sugar to boil. So for the next 30 minutes I kept burning my hand checking on my defunct candy thermometer while faking a smile for the kids who eagerly peppered me with questions. After all that, to my unhappy surprise, the sugar turned yellow from boiling. So when I added the specially purchased light blue green food coloring the whole thing turned green. Like leprechaun green. Agh.
I may or may not have lost my temper at this point and sent all the kids to bed in a not-so-nice voice.
The next morning I knew was in Frozen cake trouble. I had Anna, green ice, Rapunzel, and a crumbly cake to work with. I hoped for some peace and quiet while I frosted and assembled the cake so I could try to make it look decent. Instead I worked under the scrutiny of five kids critics who all felt a need to comment on my progress. “You missed a spot.” “Maybe you should put more ice on it.” “You know that is really green for ice. It looks kinda weird. ” “Uh, is that how you wanted it to look?”
The finished product didn’t exactly look like the Pinterest picture. This should surprise no one since Pinterest is such a fickle mistress. But it wasn’t a complete disaster, either. And you know what? No one cared. In fact, the birthday girl was delighted that Rapunzel visited Elsa and Elsa made green ice for her. She got her Frangled cake after all. The most important critic thought it was the most beautiful cake she’d ever seen.
We had no party favors. We had no games. We had a gaudy Frangled cake. We ate Aldi pizza and mac n cheese. Seventeen kids ran wild through my home. And everyone had fun. Ok one wee little guest grumbled that there were no goody bags. Sorry kid. Not in this house.
Moms, I have some good news. Your kids don’t need you to throw a perfect party. Or make a perfect cake. Everyone survives when things don’t turn out as planned. Or, as in my case, things don’t turn out because you didn’t plan. When you want to celebrate your sweet baby’s birthday you can kick it like our moms did – just have some friends over. Have some fun. No right. No wrong. No rules for you. Or me.
PS. As a bonus, it turns out Rapunzel DID know Anna.
PPS. I made Olaf cupcakes from plain white Sams Club cupcakes doctored up with purchased candy eyeballs, Mike n Ikes for noses, and chocolate Twizzlers for the stick on his head. They took two seconds to make and turned out super cute. If I had it to do over I would have JUST made these.