Remind Me, Who is This For Again?
The “tire” cake freaked me out…so the decorating is my husband’s handiwork. He was Margarita-free.
Take a look at Pinterest, she said. There are some really cool ideas, she said.
Boy, were there ever.
I “pinned” five. I liked even more. That unsettling combo of excitement and stress started to bubble up from my stomach toward my chest and pulsed into my head, which began humming with white noise. Then, in a rare moment of clarity, a voice said:
Stop. This is ridiculous.
Who is this actually for???
It was time to plan the annual Cub Scout Pinewood Derby. My boys’ den leader, whom I greatly admire, approached me and asked if I would help plan decorations and snacks with her. She mentioned Pinterest, and I took the plunge. There were ideas for free-form snacks (oreo “spare tires,” pretzel “axel rods”), balloon arrangements taller than me in the shape of traffic lights, a three-tiered “tire” cake with perfectly-sculpted frosting “tread.”
That’s when I started to feel dizzy and buzzy and that only lead to the worst of all possible Mom emotions: guilt. Guilt at my apparent inadequacy in using a glue gun (which I keep in a holster on my hip, just in case) and my inability to write my sons’ names on a birthday cake unless I have had a Margarita. Because, clearly there were fabulous moms in the stratosphere who can glue and frost…likely at the same time without mixing the two up.
I know I am not alone but I really try to keep my guilt to myself, or if I let someone in on it, my target is my poor patient husband. But I know moms who can’t help themselves and I hurt for them. They are easy to spot because they are the ones who reply to the group email that asks for school treats with: “I’ll bring a triple berry tart with a homemade almond flour crust!”
Darn it all if that doesn’t sound yummy.
Anyway, what stopped me from volunteering a lopsided three-“tire” cake, or a balloon arrangement that wouldn’t survive 5 minutes with a roomful of rambunctious cub scouts was this: the event is for the kids. Not the adults. Why would I try to impress the adults? Furthermore, why would I try to impress the kids? Kids don’t expect anything fancy, they are happy with pretty basic party “stuff.” Do they really think it clever if I label a Tupperware full of Teddy Grahams “Pit Crew?” No. They are hungry and will see junk food and dig in. (Ok, I confess I did label the Teddy Grahams. Please believe me when I say it was a social experiment.)
So after my foray into a collage of amazing ideas, I slept on “Pins” and needles and the next day I returned to Pinterest and chose two reasonable projects to try, nixing the balloons in favor of a putzy, colorful snack idea and an idea for a flat tire cake (something I could goof up and would still look ok. Hey, it’s a flat tire so it can’t be perfect, right?) I decided to make “Pit Passes,” too. I could have had them professionally printed, laminated and strung on fancy lanyards. But for a mere few cents apiece, I used white notecards, stickers and a sharpie.
And you know what? The kids still liked them.
Fruit and veggie “cars.” I can’t glue but I am fierce with the toothpicks.
