What is Birthday Jelly?

A while ago, my second daughter celebrated her 6th birthday.

Every year when I celebrate my children's birthdays, I make the birthday cake with my own hands, but this time I was a little reluctant to make that classic buttercream cake. I do not know why, but I just did not really want to make it. It was probably my body's defensive instincts kicking in. Because the weather had been changing constantly these past few days, stuffy and hot one moment and damp and cold the next, it was hard to adjust, so my body felt more and more uncomfortable, and I did not even have much of an appetite.

So, on the morning of the day before, I nervously and cautiously spoke to my second daughter and said, 'Tomorrow is your birthday. Can we make sliced fruit cold dish, because you love fruit!'

I did not know whether she could accept a birthday party without cake, so I stared at her and waited for her reaction. She, while continuing to work her little spoon, thought about it, and then said, 'Okay. Although I do not know what "sliced fruit cold dish" is, but it should be something very tasty, right?'

Inside I breathed a sigh of relief, but on the outside I kept a normal expression and said to my second daughter, 'Oh, you do not know? That is the kind of thing where lots of fruit slices are swimming in a swimming pool of soda. You can imagine it, right?'

My second daughter's eyes were full of joy, and she said, 'Wow, that is great. I love fruit the most, and, and also, I love drinking soda too. How could there be such a wonderful food!'

And so, although I had gotten the approval of the person concerned, at that moment another big problem arose in my heart: how do I fix the candles in the "swimming pool"?

Even if we could do without a cake, for a birthday, at the very least what should be there still had to be there, which is to say, the candles for her age really could not be omitted, and I really did not know how to get through a birthday without candles. So, I thought about it and then came up with the answer: sliced fruit cold dish could not replace a birthday cake.

Then, what should I do?

Right now my mind was a complete blank. Did I still have to bake a cake? Oh, today I really could not accept a sweet fresh cream cake; just thinking about it turned my stomach.

In that moment of maternal crisis, what I came up with was this: birthday jelly!

The candles were blown out, and the whole room went dark. In that instant, in the brief darkness, I thought, she has grown up again.

'All right, lights on, lights on.'

Dad's voice brought me back.

I used a big spoon to serve everyone, and the two daughters watched my hands impatiently. The older sister even said, 'Mom, give me a little more.'

How many more times can I celebrate birthdays with my family like this? Who knows when the daughters will find their own world outside and leave their parents to take flight. Although it is hard to imagine such days right now, one day, just like me, they will surely also have 'that day'; otherwise, we as parents would also be at a loss. It is just that right now I am very reluctant to let go, and it is very hard for me to let go.

Then, now, cherish this moment and this flavor to the fullest!

As I tasted the gentle flavor of fresh milk with grapes, I swore inwardly that until the day they take flight, I will make them birthday cake or birthday jelly.