Birthdays and birthdays

I will confess this right now but I write this a little bit tipsy. It was Eve's 2nd birthday last week, is the Boys tomorrow and his parents are in town (a WHOLE different post), so rather than having what I had intended would be a quiet birthday at home I did something a bit special today.

I have always been a bit scathing of the highly competitive mothers in HK who wheel out parties that doyens of Hollywood would be envious of. This has seen us at parties with entertainers (a rather surly teenage princess who looked as if she would be happier in a crack den than with a bunch of toddlers) and ones where the helpers seem to run the show. Not for me I thought. I would bake the cake, we would have something small scale at home, children would not be given any of those stupid party favours that seem to be given out in plastic bags at the end of parties. Oh no, not for me.

Except, my in-laws are in town and I would be an even more evil daughter-in-law (for this is the fate of most daughter-in-laws) if I didn't at least make a bit of an effort.

I think I may have overdone it.

Private room at the rather lovely private island retreat at the yacht club. Free flowing food and champagne and wine for everyone. Balloons everywhere. Lots and lots of children. A vastly expensive cake with a sleeping teddy bear on it and icing saying "Happy 2nd birthday Eve", incidentally which lasted about 5 minutes before an unsupervised Eve stuck her finger in it, leaving something saying "Happy irthday ve". And, of course, every child got a cupcake with an animal face on it. In fact, most adults got one too.

The issue comes that I don't know what came over me. I bargain hunt as a pastime and was debating yesterday with the Boy over ten Hong Kong dollars for some balloons. How, then, did I end up having the type of bash that I routinely criticised in the past?

Answers on a postcard please. Needless to say the in-laws thought it was great, so did Eve and the Boy, I had a great time and already have a hangover even before I have been to sleep.

Toddlers + sugar + booze

There was a typhoon overnight in HK meaning that last night we played with Eve inside and this morning Eve was climbing the walls by about 8.30. Mercifully she had been invited to the birthday party of two of her friends in the next block so at 10.30 we trooped over, card in hand, to their second birthday.

It was perfect timing from their mother as more and more parents who had been trapped in HK's small apartments with their toddlers for 2 days came over. The Dads all took up residence in the corner and talked about, well, I can only suppose manly things (sport?). The ladies discussed how lovely it was to be out of the house and the various free museums, baby gyms and libraries in HK that we can take the little ones too when it rains. This children played with the toys and each other. After about an hour out came the champagne and life all got a little rosier.

By the time we got to the birthday cake, things were all going very well. And then the sugar hit. The volume of the toddlers got a little louder, the boys started to argue, Eve got upset because another child wouldn't let her sit on the chair that she ABSOLUTELY HAS TO SIT ON NOW. Three children took all their clothes off for no obvious reason. The volume got even louder. The boys' fight started to involve the kebab sticks as weapons. Clearly the only sane response to this was to top up the champagne and wait for the sugar to wear off. Half an hour later we all staggered home with our tired and frazzled little ones.

It was such a success that we have decided to do a Babes and Beer playdate one Sunday a month. Perhaps without the cake next time.

Let them eat cake

Growing up Mum always made us the most amazing cakes for our birthday parties. I remember a train, a horse and even a ferris wheel. They were amazing creations and I have fond memories of helping Mum make butter icing and mixing in the colourings.

As Eve's first birthday approached I was failing as a mother in every respect. I had failed to find the perfect rocking horse for a present, had no card, and 3 days away had not even organised a party for her. My reasoning was that she wouldn't know and ever since a former colleague of mine threw a wildly extravagant and expensive party in a private room in a horribly exclusive members club in HK for her daughter's first I have refused to get caught in the HK birthday competition (although this was the same woman who bought 3 white Gucci babygrows for her newborn, clearly unaware that they vomit all the time).

Anyway, I was told off by friends for not doing anything, if only for the photos for the family, and I was haunted by the idea of Eve sitting with a therapist when she was 30 and complaining that her mother never loved her and as evidence saying that she didn't even get a first birthday party. So emails were sent, food purchased, and we were all set.

Except the cake. I am a reasonably decent cook but can't bake. Really can't bake. It is just a mental block. I thought about buying a cake but this seemed a bit of a cop out so I got up early on the morning of the party to bake a chocolate cake in the shape of a "1". Actually, I woke up at 5am and couldn't get back to sleep for worrying about it.

In the end it was shit. I made a chocolate sponge, cut it into two strips, used butter icing to put them together and covered it in pink icing that slid off and coalesced in a pool on the plate. It was awful. But we put a candle in it, sung a song, had Eve's little friends and our big friends over, and nobody seemed to mind.

I can only hope I get better with practice over the next 16 or so years.