Bake Me a Cake

Maternity leave is not generally available to mothers who stay home with their children. But I have the good fortune of being a mother-in-the-home who is getting maternity leave now that baby four has arrived.

Day One of Maternity Leave

With our first three children, we managed to have each one born at a different hospital due to moves we'd made between kids. Well, unfortunately, number four would be born at the same hospital as his older sister. We'd actually stayed put for more than three years!

Apparently, he didn't like that plan. At 31 weeks' gestation, a complication arose, and I was sent to a hospital in Denver to be on bedrest while my baby was monitored almost constantly. Two weeks later, Jacob was born at his very own hospital. He now resides in a private NICU room, and I, as his food supply, generally spend two days with him and then one evening away so I can be with the rest of my family. 

I've found that those two weeks of bedrest followed by this new pattern--two days in NICU followed by one day with kids--has made me soft. 

Anything the kids ask, I say "yes." Water balloon fight? Yes. Squirt gun fight? Yes. Run out the front door naked? Yes (that one was inadvertent).

And the kids have caught on to the novelty of the mom who says "yes." It's nothing but, "Mom, mom, Mom!" when I'm with them. I have several times told them that no one is allowed to say Mom for two minutes. I'd forgotten how insistent those little people can be. 

I still get stern and dole out consequences, I still manage to creatively tackle challenges they present, but I am amazed at how draining it all is. I say, "Mom is in a lot of pain right now, and I have a lot to do while I'm home, so let's try to work together so we can do something fun!" and they hear, "Mom needs just a few more whining fits from you so that she'll wish she were somewhere else."

I don't blame them, of course, It's hard for them to have a back-and-forth mom and a brother who, so far, only exists on a screen. Why should he be getting so much of Mom's time, energy, and presence?

Our family time via Skype. Last day of being 5, and he lost his first tooth.

So I decided to compensate a little by coming home on Richard's birthday so I could make him a real cake: made from scratch, with two layers and cream cheese frosting. This cake would convey all the maternal attention he hadn't been getting from me. I would even use Baker's chocolate, something I've never done, to enrich the final result.

Well, I don't tweet or use hashtags, but if I did, this "cake" might get the following: #sothatswhyyouaddflourforhighaltitudebaking or #conserveenergyjusteatthebatter. And a couple more: #itneverfailsbutmycakesfail or #everycakeyoubakeillbewatchingyou

I love myself for having lined the oven with foil!

While the kids made chalk drawings on the patio and a mud pool in the yard, I pulled out a cheese cake. No, it wasn't for Richard's birthday. He hates cheesecake (mainly because he's never tried it). It was for me. And I love my friend Sue for making it for us, along with a hot meal, so I could spend my dinner-making time perfecting the tradition of ugly birthday cakes (I come from a family who produced countless examples).

When I opened the curtains this morning, I discovered that even as a six-year-old, my son is carrying on the birthday cake tradition.

I'm just glad he didn't toss this one in the oven.