About ds birthday cake? Warning totally trivial

[Karlafarla]

It's ds 9th birthday in a few days.

He didn't have a party but we took a few friends to Go Ape and for pizza at the weekend. We are also going to a theme park this bank holiday weekend for his birthday.

He'll be at school on his actual birthday so the evening will just be presents, a nice dinner of his choice at home, and family will be stopping by.

Now to the cake! He's been going on pretty much since his last birthday about having one of those supermarket character cakes, the ones that look really nice but don't taste that nice. Every time we go to the shops he looks at the cakes. Trouble is no one is going to eat it but him, no party bags to put it in and generally find visitors just don't want to eat them because let's face it they taste horrible.

I'm not good at baking so my idea was to either buy a nice chocolate cake or ask my mum to bake a Victoria sponge, that way we can still sing happy birthday then at least everyone can have a slice when they stop by.

I know it's trivial but I love birthdays and we have little traditions.

Just buy him the cake.

His birthday not your visitors'. Get him the cake he wants.

Get him the cake.

My son has one of those every year. I just take icing off and it's jut a plain sponge cake.

I'd probably do both. If he's been going on about the cake for a year he must really want one. Your mum can make her cake too and that way everyone and their stomachs go home happy! 🍰

I would get him the cake that he wants - it's his birthday.

He will only be 9 once so I would let him have the character cake? They aren't as nice as homemade but it will make him happy and it won't kill everyone else to have a piece too.

I would buy him the cake he likes, even if nobody else will eat it. It's his birthday and I imagine he'd be a bit disappointed if he's got his heart set on a character cake and gets a plain one. Unless you ask him first and he's happy with a chocolate cake. Given that he's been asking for the supermarket character cake for almost a year he must really really want one.

Buy him the cake. £10 to make him happy on his birthday. Invite his closest friends over for tea to eat it.

Buy the child a cake!

Have a lovely homemade one too, for visitors to eat,if you don't want to serve the supermarket one.

But let him have his moment with a character cake. They're only little for a few years and birthdays in my opinion are for spoiling them and letting them have all the tacky things like character cakes.

Fgs it's his birthday! Buy him the cake he wants, your visitors can have a slice of whatever cake they prefer on their own birthdays.

Oh do buy him a cake.

It's such a little thing, they are only £10, and it will make him happy.

You can have a home made cake when it's your birthday.

Buy him the cake!

Well I would have done the bought cake at the weekend when you took his friends for pizza and let your mum bake a sponge for the actual birthday. As it's too late for that, I would definitely just buy the cake. Nope, they don't taste like home-made but will really nobody eat it?? I usually make all our cakes but for my DC's birthdays it was shop-bought artificialness all the way!

They don't taste special but ime they taste like a basic sponge so edible. Buy the cake

He will remember not getting the cake. I was a child who didn't get much of what she wanted.

Get him the cake.

"A nice choclate cake" isn't the cake he wants. THey're not as gross as you're making out either. Eat it with some icecream.

It's his birthday so his choice. Get him the one he wants. I do find it slightly annoying when a child's reasonable wishes get ignored because it's not what the adult wants.

They're not that awful OP.
Just buy him the cake, he'll be thrilled.

Which one is it anyway?

get the cake I had one for my dds birthday and tbh it was better than I expected, previous ones have been horrible so I wasn't expecting much, I do take the icing off of it though because I don't like it. Luckily my eldest dd doesn't like jam ( only on her porridge will she eat it ) so her birthday cake is always a chocolate one and my youngest dd, always chooses a tray bake or those fancy cup cake selections.

Depends which bit of his birthday you want him to remember.

Guarantee he will always remember the year he got a shite cake he didn't want!!
His day. His cake. .

Thought you might all say that

He said he doesn't want a chocolate cake etc. I know from experience that he'll be offering his cake and everyone will say no thanks, or say they'll take it home.

I'll go with the mumsnet vote if it is to get him the cake he wants as I don't want to be mean.

Get your mum to make a nice cake and buy a printed edible icing sheet topper (eBay) that you can place on top.

Just get him the cake he wants. They don't taste that bad anyway.

It's HIS birthday, I'd let him have what he wants. Especially as he's been wanting it over a long time.
Not doing so could give the message that you don't care about and respect his choices.Having the birthday celebration your parents want, not the one you would have wanted was a bit hurtful ime.

And it's not actually that nice? Well, then he has been helped to a useful lesson.Maybe he'll value your Mum's homemade cake so much more in the future.

The only exception I would make, if the supermarket cake is too expensive for me, I would explain that to him, tell him what I can afford to spend, and see if there's one he can choose within the budget.

All useful life lessons.

Do buy him the cake he wants, it is his birthday.

I remember when I was young I longed for a shop-bought jumper or cardigan, rather than one my nan had knitted. She wasn't a great knitter, but they fitted and kept me warm so did the job, but I desperately wanted one from a shop. I wasn't really bothered what it was like, just one that was different to every other one I'd ever had (I suspect, even had she'd produced magnificent Arrans, I'd still have wanted a mass-produced job).

I can still remember that very first one. I felt so lucky, and so happy, to have it. It was black, with hula hula dancers on the front with grass skirts that stuck out. Was wonderful!

Buy him the one he wants. If he called a few friends round after school a couple of days it would soon get eaten, if that's a possibility? Or if he's any friends in the nearby streets cut up the cake and let him knock and give them a slice each if you don't want it wasted - there are ways around it.
And get the homemade one for adult visitors if they really won't eat the supermarket one? But will none of them really eat it at all?! I've had slices of those cakes when it's been my dc birthdays and they are alright - not the best cake in the world but it's not inedible!