<p>This is for parents. Being new in the college experience, I dont know what to do about birthdays. My S will turn 19 years old next month; first, I thought in going to visit him as a surprise, but that will be just few days before finals, and he will have enough pressure with that, and, in the other hand, this is his first birthday away from home and maybe he would like to share it with his new friends. No trip for me! But what about buying the birthday cake at the school store (which provides scholarships with the sale earnings) and deliver it to his dorm? He could have friends over and celebrate his birthday and the end of classes at the same time (same day). My S changed a lot, now his is in college he is more outgoing, social and friendly, but, what if he hasnt change his shyness to celebrate his birthday? I know that the best thing is to ask him, but I would like to surprise him with something more sentimental than sending just a card with money (I will do it anyway). Suggestions?</p>
<p>I would have loved to get a birthday cake. Actually I did my first year in college thanks to my aunt - my parents were serving in Africa at the time. (My birthday fell during freshman orientation week.)</p>
<p>Hi Cressmom – Both my kids have late September birthdays, and they are at the same college. For each, I called a local bakery and ordered a cake, which they delivered to a bagel shop on the edge of campus. I was so glad I could do this, and it took the sting off of being away from them for their special day.</p>
<p>Cressmom,
Make sure the cake will actually be deliivered. I arranged for a school party kit (cake, balloons, etc.) for my kid. Birthday was on a Saturday. The ‘party’ had to be picked up by 5 on Friday. E-mail was sent to kid as a reminder. Kid missed the deadline and ‘party’ was discarded. I thought it might have made it to a fridge for a belated pick-up/party.</p>
<p>Out of the ordinary will always be remembered. You could send him 19 cards or packages with unexpensive things in them leading up to his birthday with instructions not to open till his bd. You could send him a large box with 19 blown up balloons with sentimental/ personal/ stupid messages from family/friends on small rolled up pieces of paper in each balloon. 19 homebaked cookies with messages in each. Someone else suggested giving friends and family preaddressed stamped postcards to be sent around his bd with their messages. Long and drawn out is my best thought for an unforgetable happy bd. (ignor the shyness problem…he will survive!)</p>
<p>My Freshman S will be 18 on Thursday at school far from home. Because his school doesnt have any cake delivery service, I sent him a decorated cookie cake from a major cookie company .They will deliver on a specific date but your kid will have to know to go to the mailroom to pick it up(S gets a notice in his mailbox that theres a package).They also take a telephone # and send a reminder message to the recipient.I also sent him a check to take some friends out for dinner.I’ll celebrate again when hes home for Thanksgiving.
When D was an undergrad,friends in her circle celebrated together and bought each other cakes,candles,etc.But this is S’s first “away from home” and I didnt want to take the chance that nobody noticed.
Interesting,MominVa about that service not making more of a delivery effort,especially them knowing it was a birthday celebration.</p>
<p>There are services – that sometimes even are offered by colleges – that will deliver a birthday cake to your kid.</p>
<p>Even if he’s shy, he probably will like that. It also will be something that his friends will enjoy.</p>
<p>When my S was a college freshman, I arranged for him to have a surprise pizza party at the college newspaper where he was working. That was where his buddies were, and all enjoyed it.</p>
<p>P.S. Your question wasn’t dumb. :)</p>
<p>Cressmom~</p>
<p>I actually wrote a big ol’ post about this last year when my son spent his very first birthday away from home. It was <em>really</em> hard for me, much harder for ME than it was for HIM, I think, so I totally understand your feelings! </p>
<p>I sent a big box of gifts for my son, but I also had a cake delivered to his dorm for him to share with his friends. They <em>LOVED</em> it. I really do think something personal like that takes a bit of the sting out of being apart on the kid’s birthday because it is such a lovely reminder of the way you celebrate at home and also because it shows the thought and care of a loving parent who misses him. I contacted someone at the university who has mentored my son while he’s been there, and she gave me some suggestions to call for places that deliver, but you can always look in the yahoo yellow pages too.</p>
<p>I really don’t think that you son’s shyness will be a factor in his enjoyment of this special gesture…I think he will LOVE it!</p>
<p>~berurah</p>
<p>I got a PM from a parent whose D was having a Bday, asking about cake shops in the Harvard Square area. I gave some names though I did not know whether they delivered. Some time later, I got another PM saying the D’s Bday cake had been a success and the D had had a blast.</p>
<p>When S’s Bday came, S decided to go out with his roommates for the B-day dinner. Later that evening, we delivered a cake to his dorm room; it was my first visit after move-in day. I got to experience the everything-on-the floor-or-on-the-bed school of dorm decoration. The cake was very much appreciated by S and roommates.</p>
<p>At some schools, local bakeries etc. which deliver are listed right on the school’s website. Sometimes the Dining Service does it. Sometimes the listings are on a “Parent” section of the website.</p>
<p>As another poster said, there is “delivery” and there is “delivery.” When S was at Bates, I used a local bakery which delivered right to the room. Somehow, they had a system for accessing the dorms even though keycards are needed (student staff? I don’t know, but it worked). Other places just deliver to some central mail service location, which may or may not work depending upon hours of operation.</p>
<p>I did it a bit differently. Ever since my D was born, I made a home-made cake (yes, from scratch, no mixes involved) with real butter cream frosting for her birthday. As she got older and the parties bigger, the size grew, too, to the size of large sheet cakes. In HS she even took over decorating duties.</p>
<p>First year in college we couldn’t break the tradition, so I found a sturdy plastic box that was good sized, baked the cake, cut it to fit the box, decorated the cake with lots of frosting (her favorite part), using extra frosting to hold the cake in the plastic box, then Fedex’ed it to her dorm. We had put the plastic box in a bigger box along with party plates, forks, napkins and such.</p>
<p>needless to say, the cake did not last long. </p>
<p>From what I’ve learned, ANYTHING from home will be appreciated much more than something inpersonal from a store. Bake some cupcakes, brownies or cookies, but send something personal. Very few kids get that personal touch, and I think they miss it.</p>
<p>newmassdad, you are a good man.</p>
<p>Respectfully, from another “entirely from scratch” baker.</p>
<p><em>Luckily my S’ birthday is right near a certain holiday, so he is never at school for the event. So no complex packaging needed by me.</em></p>
<p>newmassdad - what a good idea to put the cake in a plastic box! I definitely can see that making it through the post intact. Btw…my d tells me the same thing…goodies are not just appreciated by your child; the whole floor tends to get in on the action and the goodies don’t last long! We send HUGE portions of cookies/brownies just for that reason. </p>
<p>(I’m giving the plastic box idea a try for her birthday btw…thanks for the tip!)</p>
<p>ldmom,</p>
<p>Look in the crafts section of a store, not just the kitchen storage. If you do a sheet cake, you want wide and shallow. </p>
<p>We bought a box with an attached lid and handle. Clearly not made for cakes but worked great. Remember you can trim the cake to fit, or fill in any extra spaces with frosting, my D’s favorite part.</p>
<p>nmdad - my d loves the icing too! Question: Did you place the cake directly in the plastic box, or did you use a cakeboard in the bottom and then apply frosting on all the exposed areas? I suppose either would work?</p>
<p>How does the cake stay intact (even glued down with frosting inside the box) while being shipped? I would like to try to do this, but I would be afraid that the package would get turned over in transit and that the cake would be ruined.</p>
<p>You can have cakes delivered. There actually are services that you can find on the Internet that do this. One probably also could arrange this with a bakery in the town where one’s kid is in college.</p>
<p>Perhaps others are brave enough to trust a cake that they bake to the mail service. With my luck, though, I’d drop the darned thing on the way to the Post Office or my kid wouldn’t get to the Post Office in time to pick it up while it was fresh. Remember – cakes aren’t going to fit into the kid’s college mailbox, so the kid may have to go across campus to get it.</p>
<p>ldm, mof2, </p>
<p>I put the cake directly in the box. I “glued” it in place with frosting. I filled the extra space on top with frosting, not that there was that much. I can assure you flipping it over made no difference. Even tested before shipping.</p>
<p>D cut pieces directly out of the box. Did it get smashed? No. Was it the work of art we have at home? 
probably not, but who cares.</p>
<p>The cake idea is a really good one. My mother did that with my older sister for her 18th bday right in the beginning of her freshman year.</p>
<p>There are also tons of cool food products you can order from the Hershey’s website. I sent my sister a huge chocolate “card” for Valentine’s day. It’s enough to share for lots of friends, and they’ll write a message in the chocolate for you.</p>