Dad Takes Teen Literally When She Says 'I Don't Care' About Birthday

As children turn into teenagers their hobbies and interests change, making it difficult for parents to know how to celebrate their big day.

One dad decided against surprising his daughter, who was 14 on April 1, and instead asked her about her birthday cake preferences. He also asked what she would like written on the cake.

Many may think "Happy Birthday" would be the obvious message but this dad decided to take his daughter's words quite literally. So, he presented a giant cookie decorated with icing and "Just write anything, I don't care," written on it.

The cake has since gone viral on Reddit and user lakesharkyshake told Newsweek that he and his daughter prefer this particular message over the standard "Happy Birthday," which he described as "bland and boring."

"This was way better and she absolutely loved it!" he added.

The photo, posted on April 7, has since racked up 47,000 upvotes.

According to a YouGov poll of 1,000 people, Americans are split about how they feel about their birthday, although far more feel positive about it than negative. Those aged 30 to 44 are most likely to say they feel positively about their birthday.

The results also found that 37 percent of respondents eat cake nearly every year but the most common traditions are thanking God for being alive and spending time with family.

Chocolate cake is the most popular cake (24 percent) and cookie cake (such as the one in the post) is one of the least popular cakes (only 3 percent of respondents love it).

At the time of writing, the post has 1,200 comments—many from users asking why the dad even asked in the first place.

Some users have indicated that a birthday surprise is much more special, and this is also echoed in the survey. Nearly two-thirds of Americans (63 percent) say they would love or like it if someone were to throw them a surprise birthday party, while just 16 percent say they would hate or dislike it.

One user said: "Honestly the surprise is ruined if they ask me what I would've want, even as a 20ish year old I would probably say something similar. Lol I don't have a sentence I want to 'be told' in a cake. 'Happy birthday' or something between those lines is enough and if it's something that they thought of; I would appreciate much more."

"Well ... at least you know you have a VERY typical 14-year-old," reassured another.

A third commenter said: "They forgot to include the teen girl's eye-roll on the cookie."

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