DEAR Jasminda,

At what point is it okay to prevent kids from taking over a cake and ruining it with their sub-par decorating skills?

Mrs Georgina L.

Dear Georgina,

I reckon there are two distinct types of parenting with the exception of some parents who are floaters and some who have not yet worked out what their parenting style is.

Did you ever watch that episode of The Brady Bunch when Alice’s Special Operations Commander sister came to stay and treated the kids as though they were Navy Seals instead of delicate blended-family siblings?

Well, some parents are like that.

Everything is efficient and organised.

The children make their bed so neatly you can bounce a coin on it, and they have little checklists on the fridge and maybe some good behaviour stickers because who doesn’t get gratification from a coloured piece of paper in the shape of an apple after spending two hours cleaning the windows?

The other side of the coin is the laissez-faire style of parenting where everyone has a choice. These parents let their kids resolve their own issues, rarely stepping in, but unfortunately creating narcissists verging on psychopaths who end up as self-described entrepreneurs flogging multi-level-marketing products when they’re not too busy having epiphanies or activating others so they can relinquish their hard-earned cash on ice baths and/or chakra cleansing.

Now, I feel you are definitely in the Alice’s Twin Sister category, and who could blame you?

If you have baked the cake, why would you let your sweet and sticky minions take to it with colour-clashing smarties, marbled icing and plastic unicorn candles?

I bet you had a vision, Georgina, that possibly included some handcrafted Blue Mockingbird Eggs, baby blue ganache, and a nest made of spun toffee, all of it balanced on the choc-dipped perfection of a montane forest tree branch that you had flown in from Mexico.

Next time make the cake and decorate it in sweet isolation, away from prying eyes and pesky fingers.

Carpe diem,
Jasminda.