Sometimes it’s helpful to know the answer before you ask the question, but the #1 rule of parenting is to expect the unexpected, and there are certain kids in this world who keep adults guessing, who keep parents on their toes, and make their teachers wonder what goes on at home.
Luckily, I have Noah who is definitely one of those kids. 🙂
For Noah’s 10th birthday, I bought, yellow, white, chocolate, and even red velvet cake mix because I expected him to want one of those. What normal kid wouldn’t? I figured I pretty much had all my bases covered when I foolishly promised Noah I’d make whatever kind of cake he wanted for his birthday.
Now I’d like to have you stop here before reading more.
Think of what kind of cake you’d have picked if it was your birthday and what kind of cake your children would have pick for their birthdays.
Do you think you know the answer before you ask the question? Your kids might surprise you – Mine sure did!
Okay, now let me tell you what Noah chose.
Noah is one of those kids who keeps adults guessing, so it should not have come as a shock when he grinned the sweet, lovable, wonderful, adorable little grin that ONLY Noah can grin and answered,
“I want a chubby man cake!”
I stared blankly at him, “A chubby man cake?” I had to ask the question.
“Yep, a chubby man – with a gun – cake!”
Impossibly, his eyes sparkled just a bit more as he added the last part emphatically.
His heart was set. I had promised, and now I was stuck trying to figure out what in the heck a Chubby Man with a Gun Cake would look like.
I have to thank Troy, my oldest, who had been listening to the the entire conversation and sat laughing hysterically in the corner. Troy found the whole idea of a Chubby Man with a Gun Cake was absolutely ingenuous and enjoyed my befuddlement immensely, but he did offer to help by googling, “Chubby Man with a Gun,” to give me ideas on cake design.
I am sure we will both need years of therapy for some of the hairy chested, Speedo clad, gun wielding, chubby man images and selfies we found online.
I wondered what the mothers of the men whose images we scrolled through are thinking and if their teachers ever wondered what went on in their homes, and I prayed that none of my boys ever turns into a selfie-snapping, Speedo-wearing, hairy-chested, chubby man with a gun internet sensation.
It was a prayer I’d never had to make before, but in that moment, it trumped any other prayer I’d ever had.
Anyway…
Happy Double Digits Noah!!
I would do just about anything for you, including making a Chubby Man with a Gun Cake. The glow on your face when you saw your cake for the first time, the way you wrapped your little arms around my waist and hugged me and couldn’t stop looking at the cake, which must have been because you loved it, not because, as your uncle put it,
“It looks like a 1973 tranny on 7th avenue.”
I am glad you liked your cake and were happy.
Happy Happy HAPPY birthday to my adorable, sweet, little Noah who always keeps me guessing. This little one, who caused such challenges earlier, has grown up so much and has become such a helpful, wonderful blessing to me, and I am so thankful to have him!
