The Birthday Party, Part 2: Never Underestimate the Power of a Good Cake

Perhaps the woman at the skating rink had a point. What if the kids didn't like skating? Maybe we should go on a test run before the actual party. I left the rink with every intention of taking Sky and Pink P skating the next Saturday. But then a friend pointed out that they might hate skating, so maybe we should wait to make that discovery on the day of the party. After all, any ill-feelings toward skating would naturally be overshadowed by the excitement of friends, cake, and presents. Caaaake... Yummy cake with thick, rich butter cream icing. Mmmm... (See, you've forgotten about skating already, haven't you?)

Venue secured, the next challenge: create a guest list. I planned to have Sky invite all the boys in his class, and Pink P all the girls in hers. A perfect plan except for one minor detail, neither Sky nor Pink P liked it. Sky wanted to invite everyone, and Pink P only wanted to invite two friends. Two friends! This meant the ratio would be 11:1 . No matter how I looked at it, I couldn't imagine how gift opening wouldn't be a complete disaster. Pink P with her two presents, Sky with his 22. That's twenty more presents for Sky than for Pink P, and even though she doesn't get caught up in issues of fairness like her brother does, I was pretty sure she'd notice that difference.

So, I tried reasoning with them some more. I suggested Pink P add a couple of her play date friends and Sky focus on the boys. Nothing doin.' Neither kid showed any sign of budging. So, we mailed 22 invites to Sky's classmates and 2 to Pink P's, and I spent the two weeks until the party trying to get Pink P to add some friends. She wouldn't be persuaded (until of course the day before the party when she decided she wanted to invite the friends I'd been suggesting all along. Sigh.)

Since the skating rink wouldn't let us bring in snack food, and since they provided the decorations, the only other preparation I had to do was to get a cake. (You might question my choice to have a skating party for kids who can't skate, but you have to agree that I'm good at finding a low-maintenance party).

We have a secret weapon when it comes to cakes. Big Sissy is artistic and icing is one of her best mediums. Each year, the kids make a request, and each year Big Sissy delivers in style. This year, they wanted Cars 2 and Hello Kitty.

In previous years, they've requested Star Wars (Sky, 6):



(sorry for the uncool whiting out of their names--they haven't given me permission to tell stories about them online, so I have to keep them anonymous)

Hello Kitty (Pink P, 2):



Speed Racer (Sky, 5):

Shinkansen (Sky, 2):



And when Sky turned 1, Jo Jo the Clown (Ren and I were fascinated by Jo Jo--was it a boy? was it a girl? Sky didn't care, but the mystery was too intriguing for us. It wasn't until the episode when they went swimming that we finally knew the truth.):

Big Sissy pulled through once again, and made this for their party:




If all else failed, at least we would have a cool cake! Preparations in place, we eagerly anticipated the big day.


To be continued...