This is the cake that my 3 year old daughter made yesterday. With minimal help from me, I will add. What special occasion were we celebrating? Nothing, actually.
We bake together most days. We bake bread, pizza dough, flatbreads, loaves, cookies, scones, you name it. I prefer to bake than buy these items and she has loved baking with me since she could climb onto a chair. Baking is her special treat. More than the baked goods themselves. We use mostly organic and good quality ingredients, but I don't mind a little green buttercream frosting and sprinkles from time-to-time.
For this baking project, she very specifically asked to bake a vanilla cake with green frosting, sprinkles, and candles. She had obviously found the birthday candles in the pantry at some point and was planning when we would use them. She knows they are birthday candles. She also knew that we didn't have a birthday to celebrate. And just as I was about to say, "no, we only use candles for a birthday" I stopped myself and thought Why Not? Why not use candles just because, and for no special reason at all?
So we went about baking our cake, patiently letting it cool, whipping our frosting, and putting on the finishing touches. I lit the candles and she blew them out. It was delightful. We shared a piece of cake and tea (her "tea" was milk) and talked about how nice our cake was.
It occured to me later that night, that there is something really special about celebrating the everyday. Moms do so much to entertain and host parties and family celebrations. It is a lot of work and often stressful. But how often do we go all out for no real reason at all? It got me to thinking about other ways we could celebrate the everyday. (and all the reasons we should)
So now my new mantra for my family is Celebrate the Everyday. Celebrate the laundry, dishes, diapers, tantrums, picnics, flowers, good food- all the things that make life seem to ordinary. But these things are in fact what makes life truly remarkable. Family memories aren't about the big vacations and expensive birthday parties. Family memories are about the moments in between.
