i get the specific memory V projecting thing, this is definately correct
but, if making a nice cake in their current favourite colour/character/shape makes them happy then that happiness becomes part of a deeper less defined memory of childhood and whether they felt loved and nurtured.
( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Tue 20 Aug 2013, 10:46, 2 replies, latest was 12 years ago)

totally, and obliging that iss part of being a good parent.
but the reason swipe wanted a princess cake is not because at 2 she was in any way capable of understanding what being a princess was, or liked the idea of being a princess as an independent decision.

It's becuase her mum and dad had been telling her she was a princess since she was tiny.

That was my only point. It's not taste. It's what you've made them be.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Tue 20 Aug 2013, 10:51, Reply)

ahahahahahaha
if you'd met my parents, you'd understand why that was so funny. for a start, my dad's present for me on the same birthday was a fucking football.

this being said though, i think we're sort of saying the same thing. it's not a well-formed taste, of course it's not, but some toddlers really do have very well-defined preferences.
( rachelswipe with a fork, Tue 20 Aug 2013, 10:52, Reply)

I bet it's not.
I bet that's exactly what your mum did. And all the aunts and uncles and grandparents. becuase that's exactly what happens to every single baby girl in the universe.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Tue 20 Aug 2013, 10:55, Reply)

it really isn't
my bedroom was a delightful 70's orange and brown, my dad called me stan because he wanted a boy, and my mum tried to turn me into a lesbian (according to my grandma) by putting me in dungarees. i had probably seen a princess on tv and loved it. it doesn't matter why i loved it; it matters that i did.

by age 10 i wanted a carousel with horses on it. i got told to fuck off!
( rachelswipe with a fork, Tue 20 Aug 2013, 10:57, Reply)

some kids won't notice, they'll just go, CAKE
other kids will go, wooo! pink cake.
( rachelswipe with a fork, Tue 20 Aug 2013, 10:52, Reply)