.jpg)
-by Carol Burnside
August is my birthday month. It’s also the month with my daughter’s birthday and my nephew’s, so the subject has been on my mind lately. These days, my birthdays are best ignored, the passing years a bit scary in their swiftness, but that wasn’t always the case.
As a very young girl, I remember my mother baking doll cakes for my sister and I. Apparently, she had some kind of form to make the huge belled ball gown out of cake. The Barbie type doll would be inserted in the top up to her waist, and the bodice frills and ruffled skirting were piped on icing. I loved pink and was a cotton top back then. The earliest birthday pictures I’ve seen of me is at three, sitting on a child’s rocking chair in the hot Texas sun, my legs thrust out at a 90-degree angle with a doll cake on my lap. Though the cake was homemade, in my mind that doll is still a fairy princess worthy of a Disney movie.
One of my brother’s birthday falls the day before Valentine’s and he once got a heart shaped cake. He ate the entire pointed end off it, from his name down and made himself sick. Years later, I learned that my mother went to such lengths and had parties for us because she never had one. Not one. How sad is that?
Speaking of sad, I can’t remember my 10th birthday at all. It was mere months after my dad’s sudden death and that whole summer is mostly a blur.
I can’t remember being quite as elaborate as my mom when it came to my own children’s cakes, though I do recall some were homemade and had ribbons of some delectable substance running though them. We had parties, sometimes at a venue, sometimes at the house with old-fashioned games like egg toss and water balloon fights and hula-hoop contests. Sometimes they ended in sleepovers with kids on a sugar high. Fun was had by all, but more for the kids than me, I have to admit. Each one resulted in special memories.
Do you have a special memory of a birthday, good or bad? If so (and I know you do) please share it with me in the comments.
To help jog your memory, here are a few prompts: Tell me about your favorite birthday, your worst birthday, the birthday from hell, special birthday memories from your childhood. What’s the best/worst birthday party you ever hosted? What was the best present you ever gave or received? Do you have a special/silly/fun birthday tradition in your family?
by Carol Burnside
20 comments
I had three brothers growing up; the one closest in age to me was two years and two days younger than me, meaning our birthdays were just two days apart. So we always celebrated together, but to make it special for each of us, my mom baked a 2-layer cake but decorated one layer uniquely for him and the other layer just for me. My brother died when he was just 19 in a car accident, so looking back I am thankful that we shared all those birthday parties and wonderful memories!
Aw, Pam, that is so sweet. Thanks for sharing. You made me teary, but in a good way.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Noelle Pierce, PetitFoursHotTamales. PetitFoursHotTamales said: New blog post: Birthdays, Past and Present http://petitfoursandhottamales.com/2010/08/birthdays-past-and-present/ [...]
I have quite a few great birthdays. This year, my dear sweet hubby gave me a present every hour on the hour. And, no, none of you can steal him from me.
One year we had a snow day on my birthday–teachers report, kids stay home. Kari Petka also made cupcakes–that was a great birthday.
I think my favorite, though, was when I turned sixteen. Family friend Lynn made a cake in a pizza pan, a chocolate pizza cake with intricate toppings of almond slivers, cherries, and the like. She also had flowers sent to the high school–what a great lady!
Thanks for the memories!
What great birthday memories, Carol. I remember those Doll cakes. A friend of my mom made them for her girls several times. I was always so jealous.
I think I’m in the same type of situation that your mom is where I tend to overdo things for my son because my family didn’t have a lot of money to do BIG things when I was younger. They always made sure we had the cakes and presents, often times going overboard with those presents. But it was the sleepover invites and birthday parties for some friends that I remember most and I try to do that for my children. Of course, I’m usually kicking myself between the eyes at 2 am when we can’t get them to quiet down. It’s amazing how easy it is to forget those sleepless nights when the following year rolls around…grin…
Thanks for a fun post, Carol!
Tami
I had a lot of family birthday parties, but I can only remember one birthday party where little friends were invited and there were games. I was eight. Then hubby (with about 99% of the help and work coming from Debbie Kaufman) I was given a surprise 60th party in June of this year.
I still marvel that they were able to surprise me…but it was a really nice time for me to have friends remember the passing milestone of my life.
Sandy
One of a number of memorable birthdays was when I was 10. I helped plan the party and I wanted to have a scavenger hunt. I’d even drawn up the map. Mom said it wouldn’t work for some reason so I gave up on the idea. During the party Mon handed me the map and told me to follow it. At the end was a huge stuffed dog that I’d wanted and didn’t expect to ever get. Cool birthday.
Carol, great post but some sad memories for you and for Pam.
I love birthdays! And I have had a lot of them. A big one is coming up next year so I’m hoping to do something nice with my family.
I remember the doll cakes, too. A friend of my mother’s made beautiful doll cakes with white icing and little silver balls all over as decorations. Probably the birthday I remember best from childhood was my Sweet 16 at a neighborhood pool. I wore an orange polka dot bikini (haven’t been able to wear those for a long time).
I remember all the kids birthday parties I had for my children, ranging from Chucky Cheese to sleepovers, magicians entertaining, etc. My daugher always had to have an ice cream cake with purple icing.
My husband just had his 60th birthday and we took my youngest daughter with us to go to New York to visit my older daughter, and had a great time, saw a play, ate at some nice restaurants. That was memorable.
For my 50th birthday my husband took me to Paris, that was neat.
Some people want to forget their birthdays as they grow older, but I like to make a big deal out of them. My husband doesn’t really think birthdays are that important but he goes along with me.
Marilyn
My tenth was nearly as traumatic as yours, but it was memorable. I had my appendix out three days before! With the resiliency of youth, I had a fun time with friends.
A friend of mine gets flowers from her children on THEIR birthdays with a big thanks for being my mom and going through the big day for me!
My family are not so into birthdays, which suits me, as someone who hates being the center of attention (unless it is for something meaningful and I’ve done something to earn it)…
The best one for me was a surprise 21st, because I worked until midnight and arrived when the party was nearly over so the people were, um, well started? and I was too tired to care.
My b’day is in February, and not too long ago it fell on Mardi Gras. We took the boys to Mobile, where my parents live, and I wore my tiara & cateye glasses and a very colorful shirt from Chico’s & told all the throwers on the floats “It’s my birthday! Throw me somethin’ Mistah!”
Nobody believed me. They all thought it was a clever ploy for more plastic cups & the better beads.
I had my favorite red velvet cake with cream cheese icing, and just like always, my sister ate the last piece!
Well Carol,
My birthday is July 23rd. As A kid I hated this…everybody is on summer vacay, so I was never able to just hand out invitations during school like a bunch of my friends always did. So I usually had very small parties. They were still fun, but that always bugged me.
I do remember one very funny party. It was my only big party as a kid, and that was because I shared my party with a cousin who had a load of summer friends. So there were at least thirty of her teen friends attending, plus parents and a DJ. I was eight at the time, so I felt out of place. Anyway, the caterer brought out this big, fancy cake. Everyone oohed and ahhed. He stood right behind me, holding the cake out for everyone to see…and then the cardboard buckled under this ridiculously huge cake’s weight and…the entire three tiered monstrosity fell onto my head.
I was wearing this brand new dress my mom bought me, my hair had been painstakingly curled. All that primping was for nothing. Icing plopped off my face, big hunks of red cake clung to my dress and hair, strawberry filing oozed into my eyes and every crevice. I looked like some poor soul had stepped on a landline a few feet away and their guts had splashed all over me.
My cousin’s favorite color was red, so the entire cake, icing and all was blood red. (I’m still not sure why she got to choose the cake color)
Everyone, adults included, laughed.
Not me. I was mortified beyond belief.
I can chuckle about it now, but at the time it was the most humiliating experience of my young life.
Hope your next birthday is a very happy one, Carol!
Have a great Monday!
Tamara
Oh, I’m loving the stories from everyone! I just thought of a special one we had for my daughter’s 16th birthday. I worked for an auto dealership and wrangled a deal on a used Honda. So at her birthday party, we took her out in the driveway and presented her with a toy car, saying this was all we could afford right now, then while she was laughing with her friends and totally unaware, we opened the garage, revealing the spiffy little pimped out car I knew would suit her to a ‘T’. She about fell over. I get misty just thinking about how happy that made her and how many years she got out of that little car. (sigh!)
What great stories from everyone! I remember doll cakes too, my mom made a few of those. She was a champion cake baker and used to make amazing unique cakes in all kinds of shapes (I remember she made a model of our church out of cake for the parish’s 100th anniversary!) I have tried to keep that tradition up and have made a different cake for each of my sons’ birthdays, starting with the train cake when my oldest was two (he was a big Thomas the Tank Engine fan then) and including everything from Pokemon balls to cartoon characters to college logos.
All of my family’s birthdays fall within a month of each other between mid-February and mid-March. My oldest son’s is last and always falls during his Spring Break, so he still gets to be home for his big day. Last year he hitched a ride home for break with his friend and her dad. The dad ended up falling asleep at the wheel and rolling the car. We spent the day before his birthday at Grady Hospital Trauma Center. Ian escaped with 2 broken ribs and a bone-deep gash in his right knee. It ended up being a low-key birthday (he didn’t feel up to cake) but it was a heartfelt celebration that he was still here to celebrate it.
What a great post, Carol. I enjoyed reading everyone’s sentiments. I remember doll cakes, too. My childhood birthday memories are not so cool, so I won’t go there.
Hubby and I don’t like to think about getting older, but we love to celebrate birthdays and other special occasions by going out to dinner. My favorite is Cheesecake Factory. His is Maggiano’s. Then sometimes, we add in Outback just for fun. On special days, we order the Gold Coast Coconut Shrimp with their Creole marmalade as an appetizer and Sydney’s Sinful Sundae for dessert. Yum!
I love birthdays. Unfortunately, I can never remember the exact dates for people close to me. This is especially true of my soon-to-be ex. When we were first married, I got July 22 and July 23 stuck in my brain as his birthday. To this day, I can’t remember which one is the right date. Because I felt so bad about the confusion I could never sort out, I decided to do something special. Since birthdays are a celebration of your life, why limit it to one day? At my house, you get a birthday week. Sometimes this means you get a present each day or some sort of surprise. The birthday person might pick out a new restaurant each night for dinner. Whatever. Any fun ideas the giver can come up with are welcome. This little tradition turned out to be a big hit with the rest of my family, too. It’s great for me. Since I can always nail the week down instead of the exact day; it works out for all involved.
I don’t remember having a birthday party, per se. We may have gotten a cake, but we probably just celebrated at home. We did get a present, I believe.
So for me, birthday parties for the kids were always way over the top, with as many kids as they wanted to invite!
The one birthday party wasn’t one I gave, but one that my son, Mark, attended. My friend took a bunch of 9/10 year olds to play Putt-Putt and then they went to Hooters. The party favor was a picture of your son sitting on the lap of a Hooter’s waitress.
It was a bit unconventional. But the boys didn’t even get it!
Anna
What a sweet memory. These are all great stories. I don’t have one to share, but I enjoyed yours.
Carol,
Loved reading about the cakes. Bet they were beautiful! I had a party when I was young. I don’t remember the party, but I do remember that the boy I had a crush on gave me a small picture of the Blue Boy. Still have it, reframed. And birthday cake is one of my favorite things to eat. When it is my, or my husband’s birthday, I buy a very small cake to help save myself!
Sorry I’m late!
Thanks so much!
Carol, I’m an August baby too! Now that my sister & I are married, there are 6 birthdays in August in my immediate family and another 4 in my husband’s family! Thanks for making me think about our good times.
My mom was also inventive with the cakes. The funniest one I remember is one year I asked for an angel food cake and somehow on the side of the cake there ended up a big air bubble about the size of a quarter shaped like an oval. Well, my mom turned that into the mouth of a girl with blond hair just like me.