Pokemon Cake

As I stressed out about how I was going to make this round cake that Travis requested, so many of my friends suggested I just call a bakery and be done with it. At 1 a.m. last night as I was up to my elbows in red fondant that wouldn't cooperate, I thought that seemed like a brilliant idea. I've given many reasons for baking and decorating my kids' birthday cakes--it's cheaper; I'm a control freak; they've come to expect it. There's some truth to those reasons, but they're not the ultimate reason. The actual reason I insist on staying up to the wee hours working with icing tips twice per year is this...it's one more way I can tell them I love them.

Last year in my MOM group, we studied the book The Five Love Languages of Children by Gary Chapman. The five ways children know you love them are quality time, words of affirmation, physical loving touch, gifts, and acts of service. It's the last one that applies here. Baking their cakes is an act of service and so much more rewarding than folding their laundry or packing their lunches. I've never seen my children's face light up to a drawer full of freshly folded socks. But twice a year, I get to see a huge smile and pure glee as they wake up to a freshly decorated cake of whatever cartoon character currently holds their affection. They don't have to understand now how much time it takes or realize how hard it is to get a cake in the shape of a ball not to implode on itself. They just have to know that I made it with love because their birthday is one of the most important days of my year. I know that the day is dangerously near when having your Mommy bake your birthday cake will be desperately dorky. So until that day comes, I'll be baking and icing my heart out...literally!

R.I.P. Pokeball cake