Sometimes it takes the words of our children to make us realize the important things in life.
Last week I made a chocolate cake for a church dinner we were going to. The cake looked great when I took it out of the oven, but within a few minutes it had fallen in the center and looked terrible.
I have no clue why it fell because it was done all the way through. I have learned over years of baking, that sometimes cakes just do that. Usually they taste fine, but they look awful.
And most of the time I am fine with that because taste is what is important. However, when I am taking a dessert somewhere, I like it to not only taste great, but look great.
As I was complaining about the “disaster” of a cake and how I did not have time to make another one, my son walked by and offered his thoughts.
“Mom it will be just fine because you are going to frost it and the pieces in the middle will now have a lot more frosting on them and those will be the best pieces.”
Don’t you wish sometimes we could step back and think like a ten year old boy?
Here I was wanting a perfect cake, but all I could see was the imperfection. My son on the other hand saw only perfection in the sunken middle.
I saw only the negative and he saw only the positive.
And he was right. There was no need to make another cake. The cake did not have to be perfect in my eyes, because others look at it in a totally different light. If you love frosting those middle pieces were the perfect pieces.
Sometimes we just need to see life through the eyes of a ten year old boy.
I do get sad when that happens cause it means that I have less frosting to use to make graham cracker & frosting sandwiches!
I wonder sometimes whether its just evolving or if it’s a specific point where we lose that ability. I so admire the people that are able to retain it as they become adults.
Lynn – I love this! Last week I baked a batch of “Halloween” cupcakes that collapsed in the center and THEN – as I took them out of the oven, the pan slipped and they toppled all over the kitchen floor. My kids weren’t at all phased! They salvaged the ones that landed face-up and in one piece and slapped with them with canned frosting. Everyone was happy! Thanks for the great reminder! I’m going to share this with our community!
Warmly,
Amy McCready, Positive Parenting Solutions
What you said is so true. Kids see things in a very innocent way whereas we are often clouded by so many things in life, more often other people’s judgement.
Love it! Who doesn’t want more frosting in their life? 😉 Thanks for sharing, Lynn!
Hugs,
Shirley
That is so sweet! Last week I made apple bread and for some reason the middle didn’t rise as much as the rest. I was so disappointed by my husband was kind enough to tell me it was the best apple bread I had ever made! Nice, huh?
Yes, it is so nice to hear compliments like that one our food, because it is the taste of it that is the most important and it is easy to forget that.
😀 This post made me smile—the wise words from kids. Thanks for sharing this story!
That’s so sweet. Usually the times when I’m the most frustrated are when things don’t work out in the kitchen, so I feel like I’ve wasted my time and money. Amazing how that works. Food can be a huge blessing and obstacle, but I suppose it’s that way with anything we’re passionate about.