Let Them Eat Birthday Cake

Happy Birthday to Me! Left to right: Age 5, 7, and 8 (with the infamous Flying Nun hairdo. Thanks, Mom.) There are party pictures, of course, but we usually started with a birthday portrait.

Once upon a time, children had birthday parties at home. The entertainment consisted of some games: pin the tail on the donkey, musical chairs, drop the clothespins in the jar, the memory game. A little prize was awarded to the winner of each game; no prizes for the losers. Then we opened presents, we had cake and ice cream, and everyone went home. Without "goodie bags." Yes, I guess it was a bit barbaric, but we didn't know any better; we thought it was fun.

We dressed in Party Dresses for the occasion. Everyone was on their best behavior, or as close as we could come. Aside from the presents, the highlight was the birthday cake. Mom was a wonderful baker and creative cake decorator. My cakes were usually doll cakes. They were baked in a bowl, then turned upside-down to become a Gone-With-The-Wind style skirt. A generic Barbie was inserted in the middle, with more icing for her bodice. I thought it was very glam.

The only low light was when Bro #1, still in his monster phase, would jump in front of the celebrant at the last minute and blow out the birthday candles. No matter how many times he was warned not to, he just couldn't resist. His monster phase lasted until his early teen years, when he suddenly boomeranged into Eddie Haskell, which made us all yearn for the monster.