I hear a lot of older moms say they wish they had Pinterest around when their kids were little. I can see the appeal: there are thousands of really cute and fun ideas that any kid would love (either that or you put hours of work in so your kid can say, “meh”). But part of me feels, “No. You don’t wish it was around. It’s a time suck and a big competition that we are all losing.”
Don’t get me wrong, I love the site. I pin with the best of them, and I like to do a few special things for my kids here and there. But, if you really want to hang with the cool kids, you need to change your game. So, I give you…
How to Bake the Perfect Treat for Your Kid’s Birthday Party
1. Log into your Pinterest account and find a cute cupcake or cake idea. Ellen wanted this one.
2. Head to your local grocery store to buy quality and nutritious ingredients for your creation. In the photo below, you’ll notice I went with the Pillsbury box, however, I am partial to Duncan Hines (for obvious reasons…)
3. Wait until 10:20 the night before to start whipping these up because, in the back of your mind, you know it only takes about 20 minutes. Whatever time you start baking, just make sure you don’t leave enough time to decorate them that night. Leave that for the next morning when you also need to get ready for a wedding.
4. Have a fancy stand mixer? There is no need to use it this time. Just a bowl and a whisk will see you through.
5. Pop in the oven, slightly overcook, decorate the best you can, and call it a success.
You see, I have a million ideas pinned to dozens of boards that took me hours to curate. But, the reality of it is, I just don’t have time for that stuff right now. I’ve got two kids in diapers last I checked. One day, sure, I’d love to do all of those things, and honestly, I actually check my Pinterest boards when I need an idea for something special. But, I can’t do it all.
Want to know how to make your kid’s birthday the best? The perfect birthday for your kid is the one where you are there and you show them love. I’ve said it before – you can only do what you can do.
The cupcakes are so cute!!! Ellen is a lucky little girls :))
Thanks xo :)
An anti-pinterest-er myself (due to an overwhelming sense to just cover the basics once scrolling through that shouting mess of photos), I just absolutely loved this post. Also, it has rendered me desperate to make and devour cupcakes in the near future.
Doo itttttt!
Word. I used Duncan Hines in your honor. :)
Word to your word.
Amen. Amen. Amen. It’s all about your presence!
And she loved the whole thing :)
Exactly! I love Pinterest. I get some seriously awesome dinner ideas from there but I refuse to get sucked into the birthday party crap. Sullivan has changed his mind almost every week about his birthday party so I’m sure as heck not going to spend hours upon hours decorating my house to look like Radiator Springs when he’ll just scream that he wants Andy’s Room. I’ll probably decide the week before what to do. But I’m not going to spend like $300 on a cake for my toddler, sorry buddy.
And they don’t even care, you know. They just want to have fun and eat sugar. I could put on Elmo and lay out some sugar packets and she would think it was the best day ever.