Yesterday we attended my nephew's 1st birthday party. Since one of the things that a kid is "supposed" to do on his/her 1st birthday is get really messy eating their first piece of cake, that's what I was expecting. (Our son totally destroyed an entire cake, while sticking gobs of chocolate icing in his mouth every now and then. However, I don't give my son cake or other sweets except on special occasion. A kid just doesn't need all that sugar. He'll discover it later on his own, I'm sure.)

I was a little disappointed when my sister-in-law just cut him a small piece and set it in front of him. He got a little on his hands, but that's about it. He obviously didn't really want to eat it. At that point, if the kid doesn't show interest in cake, then I don't think he should be forced to eat it. But then an elderly woman, their next-door neighbor, started shoving forkfulls of blue and yellow icing into the kid's mouth. I guess she thought she was helping.