I'm a nanny, in case you didn't know, and today is one of my charges birthday. David is five years old today, and he asked if we could make cupcakes. Certainly! He wanted chocolate, with chocolate icing, and cherry bombs. So voila, Chocolate Cherry Bomb Cupcakes were born.
The boys both helped mix the ingredients together. As someone once said, it is a comfort to know that eggs mixed with flour, oil, chocolate, and all the other ingredients will unquestionably yield 24 dozen cupcakes. After mixing the ingredients, I poured batter into cupcake tins and let the boys drop maraschino cherries into the batter, knowing also that the cherries were heavy enough to sink to the depths of the cupcakes, transforming regular cupcakes into cherry bombs.
After 20 minutes in the oven, the cakes emerged, chocolatey and deliscious, from the oven. We let them cool (impatiently) while playing with fondant, and then glazed them with a thin layer of chocolate icing before applying our fondant creations. I pulled a suprise from the freezer, turtles I had piped the night before, and we slid those onto our creations. We added sprinkes for pizzaz, and then the boys returned to playing as I cleaned the mess.
Their creations (and my careful preparation) spoke to me, and sent me reminiscing about the simple times of childhood. Everything is done for you, when you're younger than 4. Your meals are prepared and set before you, your hair is combed, your body bathed, at times your clothes put on and shoes tied. All that is left for children to do is play and learn a little. They learn social skills, letters, colors, and the reasoning skills to build upon when they start school. It's incredible that these little people become us. The thinking, reasoning beings that become brilliant scientists, outstanding athletes, and parents. It all comes down to the fundamental skills and our funtamental personalities we developed when we were children. And I get to have some kind of affect upon these two kids. I feel such a privelage just to be able to spend these hours with them, learning from them as they do from me.
Ah well, time to change Chris' diaper.
