It would not be right to freeze her either. Drying her in the sun does not sound too bad.

Why not just cut off the picture from the bottom? That way you can get to the cake below and still keep the picture.

Absolutely ridiculous. This child will grow into a woman that, as my daddy used to say, "will make some man very unhappy one day". What are you teaching Rebecca by abiding by her every whim, exactly?

Good Grief, june bug! Lighten up! This was supposed to be a humorous blog! Is your post intentionally mean-spirited, or were you just in a bad mood when you wrote it?

Maybe she should beat the child to teach her life is tough. She is five years old man. Get a job! When Junebug was five it had four jobs already.

I personally though the blog was VERY humorous. It shows that Ms. Nessmith and her daughter have a special bond, where each can maintain respect while allowing for some whimsical deviance. For those who left mean-spirited comments... you obviously are either childless or you don't have the same type of bond with your children.

Lighten up a little! Life is too short to be grumpy... Try being care-free every once-in-a-while! You might actually enjoy it. :)

There has to be a grouch in the bunch to level the playing field. My sister and I use to cry when we had to take Christmas tree down and throw it away. We both turned out fine. Both of us had husbands that are now deceased. Maybe they died from being unhappy, but I doubt it.

Why not enlarge picture of cake and put in frame in Rebecca's bedroom? Happy birthday Rebecca.

nesmithbobby, first of all, my comment was not meant to be meanspirited, but instead express my concern with the way this situation is being handled by a "Community Contributor" for Parenting on this site.
Secondly, I find it rather hypocritical that you are scolding me for leaving "mean-spirited comments," and then go on to attack me in the same sentence.

Sigh.

I do indeed have a child, and he and I happen to share a very close bond. He is aware that there are children in this community that don't get to have birthday cakes at all, let alone one with a photo, and is grateful and appreciative of the luxuries he has. My child is gracious, selfless and well-mannered.

Any perceived "grumpiness" is at the fact that this blogger, in my opinion, has issues with overprotection, in my humble opinion. I am not forming this opinion from just one blog, but the past couple that I have read.

To each his own, but it would be a cold day indeed that I would allow my son to waste half a birthday cake in my fridge because I am afraid he'll throw a tantrum if I cut into his "face".

I am with Rebecca's husband on this one...I would be rolling my eyes, too.

You're absolutely right-I am a humorless, hardhearted, unsympathetic horror of a human being. Thank you for opening my eyes to this. Let's just hope my child doesn't figure it out. ;)

Junebug, there was nothing suggesting a "tantrum" in this blog. I happen to know who this little girl is, and she is a total sweetie; unusually compassionate and empathetic which are qualities you seem to lack. As for the eye-ball rolling, that was done in jest. Can't you see humor in anything?

June what is it like not have feel loved? Your dark heart can be saved by Jesus.

I hope I laid that on thick enough.

june bug,

I planned to take the high road and ignore your first comment. However, after reading your second and third comments... Well, let's just say that I am more than a little steamed.

My blog was intended to be lighthearted and humorous. I can't believe you took it so seriously.

Let me make a few things clear. First of all, my daughter DID NOT throw a tantrum over eating her "face" on the cake. If she had whined and fussed, I never would have indulged her wishes. Believe me, Rebecca had a twinkle in her eye the entire time that she was telling us not to "eat her."

Rebecca is no spoiled brat. She is as kind, compassionate, and thoughtful as any five year old child I have ever met. On no occasion have I received a single complaint about her behavior from her kindergarten teachers, dance instructors, etc... Of course Rebecca is not perfect---none of us are---but she is a good little girl who will grow up to be a fine woman. Someday she is going to make some lucky man very happy when she becomes his wife.

Yes, I am protective of my children. Overprotective? I guess that depends on your definition. I appreciate my kids immensely. I do not like the idea of people treating them cruelly or unfairly. However, I do not expect to shelter them from every negative experience in life. I want them to grow up to be strong and resilient.

And as to my dear husband and the aforementioned eyeball rolling...that was all in good fun. I may be a bit more sentimental than my husband is, but the two of us definitely share the same core values and general philosophy on childrearing.

Oh, I think what happened is clear. This is why they invented smilies. Sometimes humor and irony are not
clear, in internet or email or bulletin board discussions. June_bug just took it literally (in which case the family would be acting quite irrationally)instead of seeing whimsical humor. You can't see eyes sparkling about a joke, in words. (However, I noticed Elizabeth ended the post with a winking smiley, which should have been a clue).

I also see an interesting distinction between "abiding every whim" of a child (spoiling) vs. "whimsical humor" (which often contains an educational lesson). I do seem some implicit lessons here: a demonstration of the potency of magical thinking (as Elizabeth suggested with her VooDoo reference). That is an important thing to know about human nature. And, in the end, it will be a demonstration that genuine empathy is reserved for living things. Because, of course, the cake will be thrown out.