Usually I’m way ahead of the game when it comes to birthday season around here. I’ve got presents bought months in advance, and the cake all planned out.
But, of course, this year has been different. The past 8 weeks we’ve been stuck at home have made it seem like time is standing still. And while I (barely) managed to get presents in on time thanks to some savvy online shopping skills, Doodle’s 7th birthday cake didn’t even occur to me until less than a week ago!
I’ve always made my kids cakes, no matter where we are. And I always try to make whatever cake they ask for. Unfortunatley, though, Doodle has tended to always get the short end of the stick when it comes to birthdays. From his first when my parents left Florida for the summer days before his big day (true story), to his second which we spent at the Players Championship golf tournament, and two years ago when we’d just arrived in New Jersey and he got the infamous “Apartment Cake” because I didn’t have any of my baking supplies and panicked and didn’t know what else to do (though he still talks fondly about the time the trucks dug up his cake!)
And now, this. A birthday right in the middle of Coronoa Virus lockdown. After an Easter with no candy (because buying any candy during a pandemic is hard enough, buying corn free specialty candy is not gonna happen!)
But luckily for all of us, it’s Doodle’s birthday today and not someone else’s. Because this little dude has been the sunshine of our quarantine most days.
Sure, he makes mistakes. And he isn’t always the best decision maker. And he’s not always kind to everyone. But, man, does this guy deserve an awesome birthday anyway!
Because he’s always the first one up in the morning. And when I come downstairs and grab my coffee and plop on the couch to wake up, he’s right there, school books in hand, ready to start the day. He’s been working so hard on reading this year and is excelling in math. He begs to do spelling and has a really good understanding and memory for science. He worked his butt off all year and was doing fantastic in his first year of gymnastics competitions. And he was such an awesome sport about his final state competition getting cancelled.
So, when I asked him about what he wanted for his cake this year, I knew I had to do everything in my power to make it happen!
At first he asked for a heart. And I immediately said, “Sure! I know how to do that!”
And it would have been so fitting because he has the biggest heart. Just the other day, he sat on the stairs with his little brother and cried with him after his finger got smashed in the door, because it looked like his brother was hurting, and that broke his heart. He is always worried about other people and the first to notice and console someone who is upset.
“What color would you like your heart cake to be?”
He thought a moment…and decided he wanted polka dots. No problem! The gears in my head started turning.
“Rainbow polka dots.” Totally doable!
“Or, if you wanted, I could do a rainbow cake. It’s up to you, though.”
“Yeah! A rainbow cake!”
So, here we are on Doodle’s 7th birthday, celebrating with the rainbow we all need right now, with the boy who has filled our hearts with rainbows, sunshine, and love since the day he joined our family.
