It’s so hard these days to meet the demands of your child for his or her birthday party. I remember a time when there were no birthday themes at all, and we would just have it in a fun place like McDonald’s or Shakey’s. If there were themes at all, it would be simple like a “Princess party,” or “Cowboys and Indians.”

Nowadays, kiddie parties could be big productions with themes becoming more elaborate, thanks to the plethora of options seen on TV, the movies and on the Internet.

Last week was the fourth birthday of my son Josh. Initially, we had planned for a simple “Cars” theme party, but that changed a week before his birthday.

‘Trash Pack’

Ever heard of “Trash Pack?” I never did, and when my wife told me about it, I was like, “Say what?”

But I did my research and I can now tell you that, basically, a trash pack or a “trashie,” to be more precise, is a small, rubbery figure that represents characters that live in a trash can, hence the name.

Roughly the size of a Hershey’s Kisses, they come in small-colored plastic trash cans, large enough to fit one character. You can buy them in almost any toy store and they come in one, two, five, eight and 12 packs. They also have special vehicles and arenas you can buy.

When I first saw it, I told myself, “What an ugly bunch of toys.” But they had a way of growing on me and I now find them pretty cool.

I was amazed at the detailing put into the  making of these toys. When I was a kid, toys consisted of Matchbox cars and plastic soldiers. I realized that, for the party to seem authentic in the eyes of my son, I needed to come up with a few things just as real as the ‘trashies.’”

Cakes and cupcakes

First up was to find a cake that would do justice to the theme. For that, I turned to Terry Maliwanag of Cakes and Cupcakes. I first saw Terry in a birthday party of a friend’s baby. I saw the “Pokoyo” cake she had made. I took note of its intricate detail.

I got in touch with her a few days later and sent her pictures that I downloaded from the Internet to make sure she understood what I wanted. My main concern was, if she could do it on time (less than a week to go) and make the cake I wanted.

Just to be safe, I decided to have cupcakes made as well in case the cake did not come out the way I wanted. I tapped Sarah Lapena of Pateacherie. While she does cakes, cupcakes are her specialty. I remembered the red velvet she gave me last Christmas. Actually, I took just one bite of it because my daughter and her friends ate most of it. This teacher/baker makes some of the best cupcakes I have tasted.

They made it on time

She is also an artist who can recreate almost anything you want. If you can’t think of anything, she will come up with something that is a sure winner. (Cupcakes are P550/dozen.)

In the end, both cake and cupcakes made it on time for Josh’s 10 a.m. party, and they both did justice to the theme. Josh was so happy that he actually would not let any of his friends touch them.

E-mail Terry Maliwanag, [email protected]; Pateacherie, [email protected].