Seven years ago, I gave birth to Oldest, aka Demon Baby. If you ask me, I’d swear it happened just last week. How did my super-screaming-wriggling-ten-pound-baby get to be seven??? When did this happen? He was supposed to stop at five, but oh-no, he just has to keep growing!

(That sound you hear is my biological clock having an aneurysm)

As with any boy at the age of seven, Oldest has been counting the days to his birthday with enough excitement to power the space shuttle. We have a party plan in place for the weekend (Dear God, don’t let it get rained out…why do we have to have record rainfall this exact week?), gifts, a cake and everything we need for a happy birthday. If there is one thing this family can do, it’s throw a party.

Oldest is still at that age when he wants to go to school on his birthday, because I guess on your birthday, you feel super special and want to bask in your super-specialness with an audience.  Or it could just be the cupcakes…

You see, it’s kind of tradition that the birthday student gets to bring cupcakes for a special class snack. It’s always a banner day for the class when it’s someones birthday. I am sure the teachers don”t relish the thought of 20 students on an icing sugar high, but birthday cupcakes add some definite specialness to the day. Oldest has been reminding me about  the birthday cupcakes once an hour for the past month or so.

Most of the time, parents whirl through the Wally-world on their way to school, grabbing a package of pre-made cupcakes that could probably last as long as a holiday fruitcake.

But not this mom.

I don’t care how busy I am, or if I just have to use cake mix, but I will always make my kids’ birthday cupcakes myself. I can tell you right now, Oldest notices that Mom takes the time to do his special stuff, and in ten years, he won’t remember what he got for his various birthdays, but he will remember sitting in the kitchen, helping Mom make the birthday cupcakes.

Usually, with 3 birthdays and Mother’s Day, this week is insane. As a result, the cupcakes may be simple:

But I still get the all-important Mom-Credit for making them myself. 

Trust me, the smile on his face when he left this morning made me feel like a Super-Mom-Baking-Diva, cake mix or no cake mix. That’s worth doing it yourself every time.