Learning to Trust

My son, his sister and his Pirate friend

We had a long weekend due to The Thai King’s birthday and what a weekend it was. Not only did the country celebrate the birth of their revered king but three International Families celebrated their sons’ birthdays as well. Yup… we had a birthday every day of the long weekend; Saturday, Sunday and Monday.  

One of our dear friends’ son was born on October 20^th, a day before but 2 years after my son was born and therefore it was only logical to have their birthdays celebrated one after the other. The festivities were actually planned two weeks apart in October but we had to postpone them both due to the flood warnings and this week was THE week we chose to do them. I certainly could not have picked a better week. 

I was a little nervous at the beginning to have them so close in proximity to one another because even though I love baking my children their own cakes, I knew that nothing I did would live up to the creativity of my friend. She is an amazing talented cook and party organizer who has a knack for all this. She is a master at constructing complicated structures of sweetness and every cake she makes out does the previous one. This was why I had butterflies in my stomach before my son’s Birthday party.

What started the butterflies was the look of awe on my son’s face when my friend’s Pirate Ship cake was placed on the table and the candles were lit. His eyes opened wide and he had a huge smile on his face. Anyone could see the look of utter satisfaction when he helped his friend blow out the magic candles and took the first juicy bite of the cake. And that made me wonder if he would have that same feeling when it came to blowing out his own candles and tasting his own cake the next day.

Didn't I tell you it was a super duper cake?

I need not worry though as the first person to actually give me a compliment on my son’s UFO cake in the fridge was my talented friend. And even though my UFO cake did not need the skill her Pirate ship needed, she thought that I had done a good job. I knew then that my son would like it and I would get to see that same satisfied look on his face.

My son's UFO birthday cake

Suffice to say, it was a good day and I enjoyed planning the activities as well as the food the people enjoyed. So our guests left with happy feelings, full bellies and well entertained. And the one thing I should learn from this week is that I must trust myself and my abilities more. I need to learn how to breathe and have more faith. I know I can do something if I worked hard enough... I just need to remember that when, as the saying goes, “The Going Gets Tough!”