My son started a new school earlier this fall and really loved going to the “new school” as he calls it. We had no problems dropping him off in the mornings — at first. After a few weeks he didn’t want to stay. “Don’t go to work Mommy,” he’d say. *crush my heart now*

I’d explain that I have to go to work and that Daddy would pick him up later in the day. It didn’t make it easier to leave him. My husband had a worse experience on days he had to do the drop off.

On a trip to the library I was looking for a new Curious George book and came across one called “Curious George Goes to School.” Perfect! It was the story of how Curious George went to school for the first time and his friend, The Man with the Yellow Hat came to pick him up. It gave me an opportunity to talk to my son about school and how we will always come pick him up. It really helped with the separation anxiety he was having.

I was recently given a preview copy of a new book written by a mom about this topic, “Oscar the Pig: Mommy Goes to Work,” by Megan Calhoun. It’s a sweet title about a pig whose Mommy goes to work. Oscar is left with a babysitter who takes him on a magical make-believe adventure to China. Of course, the Mommy returns at the end of the book, giving readers an opportunity to talk to his/her child about when parents leave, but always come back.

Try a book if your child is having a hard time being away from you. It worked for us and my heart is better for it.

This is supposed to be the post where I write about the total success I had over the weekend while making my son’s third birthday cake. I was ready to tell you how I conquered the art of making and using fondant.

Instead, I will tell you how evil fondant is and how it nearly ruined my night.

It all started with a dream. An inspiration cake that I thought, no problem, I can do that. (see it here).

Here’s my story. I’ve include photos so you can truly appreciate my effort.

I started with the basics for a wonderful cake. Piping icing on a chocolate layer cake.

Next was the fondant, or fon-DON’T as I like to now say. I made the recipe. Colored it red. My husband helped by rolling it out. Then, he tried to pull it up to place on the cake I just made. As you can see, the fondant didn’t want to come off the table. But he tried again.

We were able to get some on the cake, but as you can see it was a total disaster. It was after midnight when the fondant disaster happened. I was depressed and exhausted. Ready to give in. I decided to call Publix in the morning and see what they could do for me. Then, inspiration struck me. I realized that my son is only three years old. His friends are all only three years old. They don’t care what the cake looks like. I could salvage the cake. Onward I went.

Here is the final cake. Not what I had envisioned, but not the disaster I was headed for either. After my midnight emotional meltdown, I put on a second layer of buttercream icing, tinted some of it blue and piped stars around the top and bottom of the cake and called it a night. Luckily, I had already purchased the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse characters to adorn the top of the cake. The next day, just before the party, I purchased the pre-made letters to spell out Happy Birthday. (I didn’t have it in me to hand pipe letters so early in the morning.) The kids loved the cake. They couldn’t see the imperfections. My son just remembers his “Mickey Mouse cake” with toys on top. Success, after all.

My favorite part of the cake is where I felt the most creative. On the side, I piped little blue dots in the shape of Mickey Mouse heads. It adds a personalized and creative touch that makes me feel this cake it special.

Overall, I am glad that I tried to make the cake. The other night I swore I would never do this again, but I am sure I will. Next time I’ll do more planning and not try to use a technique that I haven’t practiced. But, I will try to conquer fondant again. You’ll be the first to know if I’m successful.

Related:

• See how to make chocolate covered race car pretzel favors.
• Car cake.
• My very first decorated birthday cake: A 3D duck cake.
• Rocket ship cake (with photos)
• Butterfly cake (with photos) — my favorite cake so far.

I’m in the thick of it right now. It’s birthday cake baking time. For two years now I’ve made my son a special birthday cake instead of calling up the grocery store to place an order. That’s certainly easier and no one would care (I love our local Publix cakes), but I thought I’d do something special.

Every year I go through the same thing. “What did I get myself into?” I think. “Can I pull this off?” I wonder.

This year is no different. I have chosen a cake with fondant and have never worked with this icing.

“What am I doing?”

Here are some things to keep in mind as you decide to make or buy the birthday cake:

• It’s an investment: In order to make some of the fancy cakes you really need to invest in the proper tools. Cake decorating kits and other supplies add up. It’s an investment, but not one with a monetary ROI. Your return is the smiling faces that see and eat your cake.
• Take a class. I highly recommend you take a class at your local craft store to get started. It will help you avoid pitfalls and get you jump started.
• It takes time. Lots and lots of time. Budget your time according to how long you think it will take to bake and frost the cake. Then add 10 hours. Be sure to leave time for extra runs to either the craft store or the grocery store. (Last night I ran out of eggs.)
• Plan ahead. It’s best to plan out your cake baking and decorating days in advance. Have a list of what you will do each day before the big event.
• Have a plan B. While your intentions are great, the cake may not turn out to your desires. Don’t despair. Have a backup plan to buy a cake from the grocery store. It’s not the end of the world.

Tonight is my cake frosting night. I’m sure it will be a late one. What I’m not sure of is if I will be calling Publix in the morning or not. I’ll post a photo on Monday of the results. Wish me luck.

Related:

• Wilton.com for great cake decorating tips.
• See last year’s birthday cake (car cake).

Update:

I made the cake. Although not what I had intended it came out fairly cute. Here’s a photo. You can read the entire story here and see the disaster photos too!

When you become a mother it becomes harder to be yourself. To do things for yourself, but it’s exactly what you need to do. Recently, I ran across an inspirational quote that struck me:

“If I try to be like him,
who will be like me?”
-Yiddish proverb

So true. Sometimes we all try to have the house like our neighbor’s. Or the car. The job. Even the kids, sometimes. What we fail to see is that our lives are designed for us specifically. We need to embrace what we have and not worry about trying to be something we are not.

After all, someone may be looking around, wondering, how to be you.

Now, I have a boy. A big boy who sleeps in a big boy bed. He goes to the potty all by himself. He eats with silverware. He can almost get himself dressed by himself.

So independent.

Three years ago I had a baby. I held him close and kissed his head when I met him. Today, three years later, when he got up I hugged him and kissed his head. “Happy Birthday!” I exclaimed.

Then, I sent him off to pre-school and I headed to work. Seems so much has changed since this same day not so long ago. But so much has changed. He’s growing up. He has a little sister coming in a few months. Then, he’ll be an even bigger boy — a big brother.

The time sure does fly. Everyone tells you this before you have kids. And it’s the absolute truth.

I try to savor the moments as they come and enjoy the time we have together. Hopefully when he is all grown up he’ll still let me hold him close and kiss him on the head.