Blessed are those who have a birthday in January. Their parents? Not so much. Their exhaustive festive planning continues beyond December right up until the big day. Oh joy.
My daughter is a January baby. As my two children are now both young adults, I’ve had years of birthday theme planning and there’s one birthday that stands out as a Just TypiKel classic. You might think it was that time the ice cream cake melted in my car because I had to go home and retrieve my wallet after gassing up en route to my mom’s for a birthday party.
Nope. This is a fresh story. That of my daughter’s Summer in January party.
Please forgive the blurry photo. It was taken at 3:30 AM on the morning of the party.
Summer In January
The sixth birthday party is a milestone. The guest list is composed of the birthday child’s friends. Not aging distant family members or close friends of mom and dad. By six, these guests are veterans of multiple parties and are able to recall most of the ones they’ve attended over the last three years. Add in the January truth that everyone is partied out from endless festivities of the past month and you’ve got the potential for disaster. Parents need to really step up their game if they want to make a January sixth birthday party exceptionable.
For my daughter’s special day we’ve settled on a Summer in January theme. It’s winter here on the chilly, rainy west coast of Canada and we could all do with a pick me up. In keeping with the theme guests are asked to attend in their summer clothes. The agenda is one of manicures, sand art, banner painting, party games, hot dogs and picnic food and a sea serpent cake. Clever mommy! I’ve got in all under control.
The game plan in the cake department is simple. I’ve spent the last few weeks collecting toilet paper rolls. Two taped together will become binoculars. These ten binoculars will be used to search for the sea serpent that will miraculously appear at cake time. Easy? You’d think so.
So why do I find myself baking a second sea serpent cake for my daughter at 1:15 AM on the morning of her sixth birthday?
I didn’t listen to my friend’s advice.
The cake recipe is hers; the sea serpent cake construction is mine. It’ll be baked it in a bundt pan and a square pan. I’ll cut the bundt pan number in half to form the body and cut up the square pan one to shape the head. Perfect.
Except I find myself running a weensy bit behind. The taping of the binoculars is interrupted by the necessities of bathtime and bedtime of my two children. Sheesh!
It’s now 10:00 PM and I’m frustrated.The binoculars unfortunately look like cardboard toilet paper rolls taped together. That won’t do. They need gussying up. An hour and a half later, all ten pairs are done. Much better. I’ve coloured each roll a lovely shade of aquamarine blue and slathered them in summer themed stickies. Time to bake the cake.
Of course I couldn’t use a cake mix. That wouldn’t be special enough. My friend assures me her recipe will create the perfect cake. Her advice I chose to ignore?
“Make sure the cake is cooled before you take it out of the pans.”
I’m sorry but it’s now 12:45 AM. The baking equipment is washed, I’m beyond exhausted and I need to get this puppy iced so I can hide it before my girl gets up. The pans are warm but not hot to the touch. They’ll be fine.
I turn the bundt over and tap the underside. Nothing. No movement whatsoever. My taps become thumps. With the heel of my hand becoming numb I administer a wallop that would restart a resistant heart. One third of the cake reluctantly shimmies onto the cake plate. I grab a knife and carve out the remainder. The results of the square pan are worse. Horrors. No amount of icing can fix this crumbly gem. I can’t piece together a beach ball much less a sea serpent.
Oh gawd. There’s no option but to bake another. My six-year-old daughter will be stunted for life if she doesn’t have a home-made cake. In the shape of a sea serpent. Right?
Damn straight.
I get to work. It takes a while longer as I have to ensure both pans are scrubbed clean and dried throughly before being filled. The replacement version is shoved into the oven by 1:15 and chilling on the counter at 2:10.
The required cooling time ticks by. I spend it whipping up a batch of green icing. Once again I am amazed at the amount of toxic food colouring required to achieve just the right shade I desire. Ah well. Everyone will survive.
It’s with great trepidation that I gently knock on the underside of the square pan. There’s no way in hell that I’m going to jinx things by replicating the first effort by starting with the bundt.
Hallelujah! Both cakes plop out nicely. My bedroom light is snapped off a good seven hours before the guests arrive. Plenty of time to sleep before getting up and cleaning the bathroom, vacuuming the entire house and decorating the table …
Happy January all! Heartfelt sympathies to my fellow January baby parents. Take heart. You’re not alone.
Enough about that Summer in January party. I’m curious about you. Have you suffered experienced such birthday party prep delights? Ever had to redo a cake? Ever gone to bed after 04:00 on the party day? Or is it all smooth sailing for you in the birthday department? If you’d care to share I’d love to hear.
58 Responses
Awesome! And so Pinterest-worthy before its time. You know I have an early December baby, so I’m now taking the month of January to sip wine nightly and recuperate from the Thanksgiving-Birthday-Christmas-New Years push that was the last 6 weeks!!
I so understand Katy. You’re busy from the start, while I’m busy towards the end. Pass the wine please.
Kelly this story makes me laugh tremendously. I too have a January baby. Having our middle child compare to the delights of her elder sisters summer and younger sisiters spring birthdays, it has been years of trying a variety of themes spring, summer you name it. All within days of holidays coming down. Oh ya and having my sister on the 29th and my hubby on the 8th with hers on the 5th. While the themes have changed over the years and pure exhaustion usually following I kinda miss the mayhem now as she is turning into a young adult.
Sleeplessness, stress and worry were never mentioned in the parenting handbook – I think it is time some of us with a wee bit of experience now rewrite the manual. Birthday party planning and preparation could be a book itself!
I know just what you mean Janice. I miss the mayhem of the January birthdays too. My brother’s is on the 15th but it’s not the same when you’re turning 60+! Those kidlet birthdays are unique.
This post was inspired by an Instagram photo posted by a mom suffering from flu who’d stayed up late to create a birthday cake for her daughter. Brought the sea serpent memory flooding back.
And yes, I’m with you. The birthday party planning and prep could be a book unto itself. I grin as my niece’s son turns 10 months old. Mom has NO idea what she’s in for. NONE. She needs the book!
I only had to plan spring and summer birthdays, but the year Middle Son turned 6 we’d moved houses just a couple of weeks before his big day. I was unpacking boxes with one hand and making the cake with the other!
Of course! How I hope someone had a camera and captured that feat. You’re a star, Kathy!
No, I was the only one with a camera…and didn’t have a third hand to use it 🙂
Oh too bad!
Thanks for the great laugh Kelly ! Another reason why you and I are friends, I would have done exactly the same, with the same mentalitiy of thinking our children will never be the same without a homemade spectacular cake . I do miss those days though, when my girls would spend weeks studying the Aistralian Womens Weekly cake decorating book to decide on their cake of the year !
Of course Jane. I can so see you being the same. Too bad we didn’t know each other then. I could have texted you at 02:00! I absolutely adore those Australian Womens Weekly books. Man – the photos! Spectacular.
I’d like to place an order for Mike’s Birthday…12 pairs of toilet paper binoculars please and a orca shaped cake. Funny story this…
Hahahahahaha! I’ll get right on it. Mind you, it might take awhile to get the toilet paper rolls …
Oh my, I clearly did not check my spelling, mentality and Australian ??? Sorry about that !
No problem Jane. You should see some of the comments I leave on others’ posts. I can tweak any spelling errors on future comments if you like!
Oh Kelly! I can’t tell you how many times that some sort of catastrophe in my life started out by finding myself “running a weensy bit behind”. Why is it that EVERYTHING takes longer than we think it should! My daughter has an end of January birthday. I learned very early on to buy her birthday presents along with her Christmas presents lest I be faced with the completely bare shelves at the toy store if I waited until January.
Yes, why is it that everything seems to take longer than we think it should? It always happens to me. Oh man – I bet everything was gone from the toy shelves by the end of January. Clever Mom to buy the birthday gifts at the same time as the Christmas ones. Silly me – I’d wait to see if she didn’t get something she wanted at Christmas and then try and track it down for her birthday two weeks later … That was “fun.”
WOW!!! I’m super impressed with your cake and party ideas!!!
I’m happy that my boys have decided they would rather have either a frosted cookie cake or some other type of dessert – I’m hoping it isn’t because of the toppling castle cake (Jordan’s 4th), train cakes (easy ones!!!) or the exploding volcano cake (I think Jordan – 6).
Ooohhhhh a frosted cookie cake? That sounds yummy! I am grinning here over the concept of the toppling castle cake … Trust you meant for it to topple?
My husband’s birthday is in January, but he is not much of a party person so I think I am safe enough. Great story, as usual! You live quite a fun life!
Thanks Amy. Interesting that your husband’s birthday is in January too. So many January babies popping up. Hmmmmm…
Guess who IS a January ‘baby’ (odd to say that as an original Baby Boomer)? And, yesterday, January 6, was my birthday. AND my husband is also a January ‘baby’. Thanks for going the extra mile to make your January baby have a celebration! Most of us suffered the post holiday syndrome with maybe a cake – if lucky.
Happy Belated Birthday Denise! Hope you got the cake of your dreams … or a celebratory dessert of your choice! I was thrilled to have a January baby in terms of school age problems (everyone kept pointing out that the December kids were ever so different from the January kids yet they were in the same grade) but then it hit me that the festive season tootled merrily along well into January. Ah well. Soon it will be Valentine’s Day!
Thanks so much for popping by and leaving a comment.
Oh you are so impressive! I bet your daughter was thrilled with such a cool (literally!) cake! I can’t think of a time when I have had reason to bake in the middle of the night, which is probably for the best as it sounds like a quick way to burn my apartment down!
Cool cake! Hahahah! Yes, finally cool enough to thump out onto the cake plate. And you’re missing out on something so special. Icing a cake at 03:00 is so delightful. Icing sugar is flying, the dog is thoroughly confused and the butter is never, ever, warm enough. Go on. Set your alarm for 02:30 and give it a go.
That doesn’t sound ‘Almost Stress free’ at all … oh dear. I was never very good at this sort of thing. I fear my children may have missed out. I once baked a chocolate cake for my then husband, put it outside to cool for 10 minutes, only to find it eaten by birds. I applaud you for sticking with it and getting there in the end.
Absolutely grinning here over the chocolate cake being eaten by birds. I am sorry. However, I can so relate. That would happen to me. Thanks for the reminder that I should write about the time I returned home to find my just baked, not yet iced, first birthday cake for my almost one year old son was decapitated by the dog… Life is never dull.
LOL yet again Kelly. What an awesome party – binoculars and an undulating sea serpent cake – you rock! Or perhaps that’s slither? 🙂 Clearly your devotion to fabulous birthday experiences has paid off – methinks your daughter turned out spectacularly.
Why thank you Deborah. My daughter does remember the cake and that makes my heart soar. She did ask how long it took me to collect all those toilet paper rolls and happily I don’t remember!
Haha! I always contract somebody else to make the cake for all occasions! I am a terrible party planner and the worst baker. Not a good combination! I am sure your daughter and her friends had a wonderful time! I have realized over time that kids do not care much about the texture nor the flavor of the cake, they are all after the icing! 😀
You’re absolutely right. It is all about the icing. I should have iced a cardboard box and been done with it. Better yet, I should have iced the toilet paper roll binoculars! Silly me.
No none of that. So far Christopher has only had one birthday party (his first). We’ve shared a few because our birthdays are a day apart in December. Like January it’s hard to get folks that don’t have prior plans. I know I’ve had some baking do overs but I can assure that I’ve never stayed up. I might be able to get up at three but I can’t hang that long, I wouldn’t have any patience left. Love how your cake came out and I wouldn’t have noticed the candle but you pointed it out
Your birthdays are a day a part? In December? Wow. That’ll make for some wonderful stories as Christopher gets older. Thanks for not noticing the candle. I didn’t notice it at 3:00 AM or on cake day! Too exhausted to care I suspect. Happy Belated Birthdays Kenya.
Oh I’ve so been there! My son’s birthday is November 1st – just after Halloween. The rush of costumes and candy and trick-or-treating with friends right on top of a single mom trying to make each birthday memorable, yet a personal tribute as well. He’s 24 now, and I’ll tell you he still looks to his mom for joyous celebration. Honestly, I don’t mind so much.
Such a tonic to read this. Thank you for popping by and commenting. My two are 19 and 21 now and they both also look to me for joyous celebration. It’s still fun, I agree!
That cake’s adorable, Kelly! I wish I had had such cakes when I was a child, mine were delicious but with the typical rectangular shape, haha!
Thank you Lily. My cakes were also of the typical rectangular shape too when I was little. In fact back then I wasn’t much of a cake fan and can remember asking my mom if I had to eat the cake! Have since developed quite the taste for them though!
Never been in charge of a party. As a bachelor uncle who is a bit of a hermit and lives in a tiny apartment, it’s generally my job to bring the interesting gifts* and maybe food, and then I’m done.
*Like the year everyone else gave my littlest nieces Barbie and Disney Princess presents, and I gave them Tonka trucks. Which led to Jasmine the bulldozer driver.
Jasmine the bulldozer driver? Brilliant. A birthday to remember I’d say!
I feel you Kelly (ok I am way lazier than you are and my son’s birthday is in July and I’m totally cook with store-bought cakes) but I feel you with the panic of before the party and wanting everything to be awesome. For the first time, my son is already talking about what he wants to do for his birthday this year (a ninja party which I think means some karate of some sort – not sure). Gah. Just wanted to come by and wish you a Happy 2015 and say hi!! HI! 🙂
Lovely to have you pop by and leave a commment Kristi! Thank you. Happy 2015 to you. Ooohhh a ninja party is fun. Happily it’s July so you can do it outside. Those inside parties with boys? Yikes. I have a delightful memory of doors slamming, bodies rushing up and down stairs and nerf darts. Everywhere. No thank you. Once was enough. We discovered the world of “outdoor parties” after that…
How special and oh so funny! No January baby….my little bundle of joy arrived in early March. But I still remember the stress of planning and putting together the ‘perfect’ b-day event. Trying to top all those other parties my son attended and came babbling home about how ‘awesome’ so and so’s party was….and could we do this or that…gotta be bigger and better….right….Ok so super mom once again dawns her super cape…LOL! Although it is becoming more and more tattered with each passing year, she still tries and mostly succeeds. The payoff is always those beautiful, sparkling, eyes…..shining up at you and that huge grin…missing teeth and all! Thanks for reminding me of my ‘superMOM’ days!
Grinning here over the super cape becoming more and more tattered with each passing year. Yes – I suspect mine is disintegrated … can’t find it anywhere! I do so miss those huge grins with the missing teeth.
My birthday is January and my husband’s is the beginning of December. Seems like those holidays go on forever. Never had to rebake a cake, but, then, I’ve never made a sea serpent either. 🙂
Happy Birthday! Am tempted to send you a sea serpent cake. Too bad it couldn’t swim its way to you!
Love the cake and the love that went into making the day special for your daughter. You are a great mom!
Aw thank you Michele. I can’t believe how quickly the time is passing though. Seems like that Sea Serpent episode was just a few years ago. Of course I’m not getting older but my kids sure are …
That’s why I don’t bake. Following a recipe (OK, I suppose I could go broader here and call it directions) seems to have gotten lost somewhere in the fine genes that most might conclude should be part of my makeup.
As usual, Kelly, you had me smiling, nodding and laughing throughout this post. The (second) cake looks like it turned out great. Come on, now, why didn’t you take a picture of the first one?
Hahahaha! I should have taken a picture of the first cake. Silly me. Imagine it. Huge chunks and a smattering of crumbs. Between you and me – I did contemplate just gluing it together with gobs of icing. But soon realized it would keep toppling over. Dang!
You did mah-vah-lous m’ dear! I hope you feasted on the crumbles and butter frosting of the first while waiting for the second to cook. I have dim memories of some ill-fated birthday cake that developed cracks and fissures before splitting apart in front of the birthday child–just like an earthquake. The toys atop the cake (because the cake is just one more excuse for new toys, isn’t it?) were first responder matchbox cars–police, fire trucks, an ambulance–added to the disaster ambiance.
He thought I did it on purpose and was most impressed.
What?!?! This is brilliant. Read your comment aloud to my daughter just now and may I say we are both giggling here. Surely you can hear us. Love that he thought it was intentional.
Hahahaha…..had a good laugh…thank you Kelly….oh shoot…I hope that didn’t sound rude….if it did….here’s another laugh….hahaha….ok in all seriousness…I loved your post. Gosh! I don’t have kids yet but you kind of make me get a jist of it:)
Love your cute cake:)
Thank you. Somehow I have a treasure trove of birthday stories along these lines. Ah well – my two will be able to dine out on “stories of my mother” for years to come …
Gosh….I don’t have kids yet….but you made me have a jist of what it would be like in the near future. Hahaha….I must say….loved your narration and the cake….best mom award goes to you dear Kelly
May your cakes always be just as you envision! Remember: be patent and let them cool. Or have someone else bake ’em.
Such a funny story…and the things we do for our kids, right?! I’m sure your daughter and all the kids just loved the cake! It looked so cool I just might try it out for my grandsons! thanks for sharing.
Actually dead easy to make … especially if you fashion it in the afternoon and are patient enough to allow it to cool.
Having made my own fair share of difficult cakes (Minecraft theme, bunny, zombie, etc) I can tell you – You did amazing!! That does NOT look like an easy cake to pull-off, and you did it in the middle of the night?! Kudos. Huge kudos. *bows down*
fortunately, my kids have birthdays in the spring and summer, but MY bday is in December, so I get it.
Surely we should all just be ordering from Dairy Queen?