Friday, June 13, 2008

Birthdays, Coins, Cake and Buttons

Yesterday was my daughter's 7th birthday. How can that be? It seems like it was just a little while ago that she was born. Wow! Seven years! She had a fun time yesterday and it has my son planning his birthday, which is not until September.

Surprisingly for me, the highlight of the day for both of them was the cake. I must confess; I have never baked my kids a birthday cake before yesterday. We always let them pick out a character cake from the bakery because they've always had bigger parties and both of their birthdays come in the hot summer weather and we didn't want to heat the house even more. How can I let my kids go for 8 years (my son is 8) without actually baking a cake?!

Anyway, they had fun helping to bake and decorate it and even more fun eating it. You see, I did something my grandmother used to do for me when I was a kid. She always hid money--coins, not bills--in the cake. She made sure the birthday child got the most money in their piece but, pretty much, everyone else got something too. She also hid a button in the cake and, at this moment, I'm not quite sure why. If I remember correctly, it must have been as a "fortune-telling" thing about growing up to be a bachellor. I'll have to ask my brother if he remembers this. What about you? Did your relatives do anything like this?

I will say, this is the first time my daughter actually ate the cake. I've always asked her why I should buy her a cake when I could save money and just buy her a tub of frosting! LOL! At least, I can say with confidence that she did have a happy birthday.

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