Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Red Tractor Party - (A Birthday Party that Almost Never Happened)

I've been hearing about a "red tractor cake" for over a year now. Yes, seriously. What seemed like moments after I had disassembled everything from his 2nd birthday party, Ethan told me that he wanted a "red tractor cake" for his 3rd birthday. 

I was happy. 

All the effort of party planning had paid off. It had clicked that I had done it all for him. 

He felt special.



I'd check in from time to time to see if he still wanted the "red tractor". I just knew that at some point he would change his mind. 

I should have known better. He is me made over and when we make our mind up about something…it sticks.

He would tell random strangers that he was going to have a red tractor cake for his birthday. It came up in conversation time and time again over the year.

The pressure was on. 

I desperately wanted to scale back this year. After throwing 2 pretty elaborate (to me) parties in a row, I was ready to do something simple and it just so happened we had a family wedding to attend in New Orleans on Ethan's birthday.

Not many kids get a New Orleans birthday at the tender age of 3.

I reached out to a blogger friend there to help me pick the perfect place. I invited extended family to join us and placed an order for very special red tractor cake.

The day before we were scheduled to leave, sickness hit (and dare I say it hasn't left us even 7 weeks later). We had to cancel. 

I hoped he wouldn't notice. I made plans for us to visit all the grandparents for another party two weeks later. Another out of town location picked, another tractor cake planned.

Two weeks later we were hit with bronchitis. Again…we canceled.

We attended two little friends birthdays and each time he would talk about how excited he was to have a "red tractor cake" at his party. Each time he mentioned it, my heart broke.

I felt like I was letting him down. I felt like I had built him up only to disappoint. People kept telling me that he would just forget. But I know my son. That was not going to happen. 

Finally, over the weekend, we threw a joint birthday party at our home for Ethan and his Papa. It was simple. There were only 5 in attendance counting us. He was sad that not everyone was there and for that, I am sorry, but sometimes things just can't be helped. 


He watched me bring out all the party supplies. His eyes lit up at the sight of balloons and other party decor being laid out. He brightly exclaimed "It's my party now!"

The poor thing. It had been such a wait.


A weak rendition of "Happy Birthday" was sung, candles were lit and a tractor cake was presented.



He smiled from ear to ear and music hit my ears when I heard Ethan say "I like my red tractor cake mama. My party over now.".


Yes son…until next year.


**To see our other parties click here.**


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5 comments :

  1. How sweet! Good job, mama, he'll remember his red tractor cake for the rest of his life! Do you read Tractor Mac books with him? He'd LOVE them!

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  2. Oh my goodness! THIS is is so cute! I love that it's not OVERLY theme-y! LOVE it!

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  3. Oh Laura how sweet! Kids are kind of crazy with the things they hold onto. I can only imagine how happy he was to get his tractor cake. Mom points for you no matter when or how many people attended. Good for you! And happy belated birthday to E!

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  4. What a sweet boy! ....and a wonderful momma!

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  5. WOW!!! The balloons are looking wonderful. They are very creatively used for the decoration. I have seen this first time to use balloons as a centerpiece. Birthday is a very special occasion for everyone. Everyone want it to be very special and different. There are so many ideas of making this day special but the best being when you plan something which is most important for the person whose birthday is there. The idea of tractor cake is amazing. I also celebrated my niece's birthday last week. She likes balloons a lot so i ordered special balloons for her from postal flowers. They were amazing. You can have a look at this for further reference http://postalflowers.ie/balloons/birthday-balloons.html

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