Making the birthday cake for your child is an expression of love and proves your level of good-motherliness. Doesn’t it?
Ultimately reality kicks in, life kicks in and the birthday cake experiences, from year 1 to year 5 of the life of my first daughter go a long way towards explaining the development of my parenting skills.
Year 1
I make my own chocolate cake, topped with little pink butterflies. It takes hours that could be better spent in bed with a good book, but what kind of mum can’t be arsed making a cake for her child’s first birthday? A bad mum. And I am a GOOD MUM!
Year 2
My second child has just been born, so I buy a packet mix, but I fill the cake with fresh cream and strawberries. I still believe I am a GOOD MUM, but I am a mother of two now, so I am allowed a few breaks. I tell everyone I made it because I am mortified. I think they all believe me.
Year 3
The packet mix I used last year was great, so I do it again. And the icing that goes with it is just like the one I used to make. No one says a thing – good for them.
Year 4
The local bakery does a great sponge and the kids love it, especially the icing.
Year 5
At this point, I discover that no-one eats the cake, so I just ordered a tub full of icing …
Written by Georgia O’Neill, 43-year-old lady, mother of 2 school-aged girls, non-smoker, social drinker, enjoys reading, sleeping and watching her husband do the housework.

