This just in: dirt cake does not actually contain dirt. And also, the hygiene hypothesis does not mean what you think it does. Colds and other respiratory viruses are not the kind of microbes our immune systems need to play with to get strong and skilled. They’re the kind of infections that lead to asthma.
They hygiene hypothesis means that we should literally let our children play in DIRT more, and leave our home environments a little less pristine, so that our kiddos get exposure to non-pathogenic microbes - microbes that don’t make them sick. It’s the immune system equivalent of training wheels - you’re not really likely to fall over and hurt yourself, but the practice gets you used to working new body parts and developing balance, so that when you are faced with what can hurt you, your body has some sense of self-preservation.
Yeah; when I was a kid (USA, 1970s) it was common for the birthday kid (or his/her mother) to bring treats to school to share with the class, but I don’t remember candles ever being involved.
If I were a teacher of kids that age, I definitely would not want to have to deal with lighting candles, cutting up a cake, putting the knife away safely, distributing the slices on plates of some sort and clearing up the mess, all while also trying to keep an eye on 20 kids, potentially 20 times a year.
So I doubt it happens often anyway. Cupcakes or other treats are fine.
My uncle has a stoma (a hole in his throat) from successful treatment of cancer. He generally wears a little bib over it to keep dirt out and various fluids in (I don’t know, I don’t want to know, but yes - fluids).
Watching him blow out the candles on his cakes was … interesting. I was holding the cake, so I got the most … interesting view.
We still ate the cake because, as **tdn **said; cake.
I wish this was her real name. It’s like a character out of Monty Python. “And playing the part of the Butcher’s wife will be Mrs Esmerelda Cheesesteak.”
Well, it’s a good idea. But it’s not like the little germ factories aren’t going to drool on each other the rest of the time. Spit-takes with the milk, putting toys in their mouths, sharing food…well, you know. I mean, there are hundreds of ways to transfer germs, and kids will do all of them.
So, I just have to share in a, “and you wonder why I divorced the man…” kind of way.
There were two parties yesterday. After I did the one for her school friends at a local art center, we went to a second party for family and parents’ friends with their kids, held at my ex’s house. I made cupcakes for both parties, as he was cooking everything else for an actual dinner.
I explained why I was making cupcakes instead of a single cake, mentioned this thread, the recommendation from Australia, coughed several times, mentioned she is now complaining of a beginning scratchy throat, etc.
He put the candle for her to blow out into her cupcake all right. In the middle of the platter of cupcakes. :smack:
Actually, the sprog’s school discourages birthday treats now. Aside from the whole “healthy eating” thing, a lot of it just comes down to the fact that the teachers and school would just as soon not have to deal with behavioral issues (some kid pitching a fit because the birthday boy/girl brought chocolate cupcakes and he doesn’t like chocolate), dietary concerns (diabetic kids who aren’t allowed sugar, for example), time out of the school day, and so forth. So what some teachers are doing is incorporating birthdays into the sanctioned holiday parties. Parents who want to can bring treats to share on that day, and if they don’t, that’s OK because the kid will still have his/her birthday celebrated and there’s enough food anyway that more won’t be missed.
