My Mother’s Daughter.

Sometimes I catch a glimpse of my Mom, in the mirror. I catch myself saying things that sound just. like. her. But never am I more my mother’s daughter, than when I am decorating a birthday cake for MY daughter.

Well, ok, except when I suddenly decide to bake cookies at nine o-clock on a Saturday night. Or when I try to leave my house, but forget my coffee mug full of coffee. And when I run back in to get that, I grab ten other things that I think I might need, only to return to the car, fifteen minutes later. Ugh. Sometimes I just can’t leave. No matter how hard I try. Yeah, I totally get that from her. (Thanks, Mom!)

My mother made a cake for each one of us (seven kids!) on our birthdays, every single year. You gotta know that these were not your average cake mix with some betty crocker slathered on top. No, Mama’s cakes were made from scratch, meticulously baked and shaped and decorated and detailed to our individual likings, and interests. I realize now, what a token of love that was from her.

Seriously, do you know how much time and energy it takes to decorate a cake? How much more so, when you do this, for every single child, seven times a year?

Yeah.

I now understand how much it takes. Because I find myself doing the same thing for my ONE child. Yes it takes time. And patience! And yes, we both get sick on frosting by the time it’s done.

But you know what? It’s worth it. To see my my little girl’s face light up, when her dream cake comes true, before her very eyes, is well worth the little added stress or effort to make it happen.

I actually quite enjoy it. It’s a fun way I get to express myself.

And I get to make memories with my daughter.

She’s been telling me about this cake for months. Whenever she talked about her upcoming birthday, she exclaimed how that her cake would be pink and have lots of animals. In the last few weeks, there were other details added, and I took note of each one. So this is what I came up with. This is actually just a 9 x 13 cake, cut into squares and stacked on top of each other. Probably not the professional way to do it, but hey. She got the cake she wanted!

Check out that face!

She told me over and  over how much she loved her cake and what a great job I did.

And for that, I will keep on making birthday cakes. Every single year. Just like my Mom did.

2 Responses to “My Mother’s Daughter.”

    • Ruthie

      Thank you, Mary! It’s great when creativity is appreciated, and I loved it, too! Now, what to do for the baby boy who’s turning two…:)

      Reply

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