Mark didn’t believe me about Cookie Puss. He thought it was some weird thing I was making up- as if I would ever do such a thing. I think it was the name that threw him. It might have also been the song I used to describe Him, which I did in the style of the ‘Yo Gabba Gabba‘ teaching songs (huge in my house at the time) in my best Tom Waits voice. Or maybe he didn’t understand the mythology of Cookie Puss and how it impacted my childhood.
“Everytime a child cries, Cookie Puss grows stronger,” was a popular saying as I recall. I would tell him how when a kid would go missing the elders would tell us that they were with Cookie Puss now. Then there was everything about the ice cream anointing ceremonies and the Cone Scarification of The Chosen and of course Melting Day, which thankfully only took place every seven years but is the reason I have trouble sleeping peacefully at night.
But anyway I guess there wasn’t a Carvel up in Detroit where he was from or whatever, so he just didn’t believe me until I showed him a picture from the internet. The reason I mention any of it is that my kids have never had ice cream cake before, for reasons anyone who grew up where I did are well aware of.
I just want everyone to be safe.
However, this year Violet asked if she could maybe try and find one for her birthday. As she was going to turn ten and would now be of little risk for any far reaching ire, I told her I’d try.
I’d try….
She said if not then cupcakes would be fine, so I was going straight for the cupcakes when I noticed that right off of the bakery was an ice cream cake section. I would have thought if the store carried them at all, they would have been with the frozen treats, so I had avoided that aisle like the plague (like the one that happened in 1986, the year Melting Day had been put off by a freak blizzard.)
Since it was right there, I couldn’t help but look and my heart froze for a second when my eyes fell on the Carvel logo. Incidentally- I recalled in that instant that the heart suddenly freezing was what they said killed my neighbors two doors down after they had decided for some reason not to have their child anointed at the Carvel Tower in the center of town that also served as the courthouse and church. But there was nothing sacred in the store’s ice box, only plain ice cream cakes.
The Carvel cakes were party sized and as we keep our birthday celebrations to just family, I needed something smaller. Sure some families spend hundreds of dollars on big birthday parties at various kiddie amusement venues, but that was never our way. Honestly, I have reservations about letting the girls attend those mega parties when they are small because I don’t want them thinking that’s something to be expected.
When I saw they had Friendly’s cakes too, I was so relieved! Not only did they come in more manageable sizes, but Friendly’s was also a staple in my hometown and was perfectly acceptable to ingest.
Violet loved it- and the fact that it didn’t have the regular sort of cake frosting that she was worried would stick in her braces was a nice bonus. I found some great cat cake toppers that were fun additions to both girl’s toy collections.
There’s even a little orange Atticus!
I always get her some gifts that she says she would like for her birthdays, but I also always drop a couple of things in that I think will spark her interest. For example, she loves art and drawing, but rarely colors anything in. She’s also recently gotten into a bit of anime so I found the perfect comic book to inspire her to want to color with detail. The pictures are really cool and she’s already done a few pages:
Since she makes hordes of stories and comics she’s really secretive about, I thought it was time to get her a first diary- one with a lock. I found one that wasn’t at all conspicuous.
Oh, and the diary came with a matching screaming unicorn pen that has a little light at the end in case you want to secretly jot something down in the dark.
I did not know it came with this pen when I ordered it and it is the best thing I have ever seen in my whole entire life.
But the gift I gave her first was utilitarian. I remembered how disturbed she was when I gave her socks for Xmas as sort of a joke, so birthday underwear was the logical next step. It was a ten pack. Because she’s ten.
Her face says it all.
She had a good day.
