Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I can only imagine the social anxiety experienced by people who think about whether it is trashy or tacky to give a kid cake to smash on their birthday.

Uhhh... What?

Judgments about trashiness/tackiness are really judgments about social position. To me, thinking about the social implications of your child's reaction to cake is like thinking about plucking your baby's eyebrows.

You are missing to point, PP - I'm sure no one is thinking about the baby's reaction or damage to his social standing! I wouldn't give my baby a roasted turkey to drool on and throw on the floor for his first Thanksgiving either - no matter how cute the photographs of a baby and a 14 pound roasted turkey were. It is a waste of food.

And as a PP pointed out, not the intent of a birthday cake anyway.

No dear, you are missing my point. We have a word for this: "wasteful." But OP didn't talk about how wasteful she finds the tradition. She talked about how tacky/trashy/tasteless she finds it. We get that YOU find it wasteful, but that was not what OP said.

What was your point? You wrote, "To me, thinking about the social implications of your child's reaction to cake is like thinking about plucking your baby's eyebrows." And I responded that no one is thinking about the baby's reaction or damage to his social standing. I can't see how giving a baby a cake to smash up or not giving a baby a cake to smash up but rather a piece of his birthday cake to eat had anything to do with social position - either his or mine.

Honestly - I don't understand why point your were trying to make.

Anonymous wrote:I made a mini smash cake. It was fun. Dd barely ate any. Get over it. Some think its fun and makes for great pictures.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can only imagine the social anxiety experienced by people who think about whether it is trashy or tacky to give a kid cake to smash on their birthday.

Uhhh... What?

Judgments about trashiness/tackiness are really judgments about social position. To me, thinking about the social implications of your child's reaction to cake is like thinking about plucking your baby's eyebrows.

You are missing to point, PP - I'm sure no one is thinking about the baby's reaction or damage to his social standing! I wouldn't give my baby a roasted turkey to drool on and throw on the floor for his first Thanksgiving either - no matter how cute the photographs of a baby and a 14 pound roasted turkey were. It is a waste of food.

And as a PP pointed out, not the intent of a birthday cake anyway.

No dear, you are missing my point. We have a word for this: "wasteful." But OP didn't talk about how wasteful she finds the tradition. She talked about how tacky/trashy/tasteless she finds it. We get that YOU find it wasteful, but that was not what OP said.

Anonymous wrote:We had a cupcake for my 1 year old, but then my husband swapped it out for broccoli. Poor kid started sobbing - it was awful/hilarious.

Anonymous wrote:I think a bunch of PPs are missing the point. The issue isn't whether it's okay for the baby to eat birthday cake or whether it's okay for the baby to be a messy eater. The OP was, I thought, talking specifically about the phenomenon of a "smash cake." That's a whole separate cake for the baby, and its purpose is for the baby to destroy it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can only imagine the social anxiety experienced by people who think about whether it is trashy or tacky to give a kid cake to smash on their birthday.

Uhhh... What?

Judgments about trashiness/tackiness are really judgments about social position. To me, thinking about the social implications of your child's reaction to cake is like thinking about plucking your baby's eyebrows.

You are missing to point, PP - I'm sure no one is thinking about the baby's reaction or damage to his social standing! I wouldn't give my baby a roasted turkey to drool on and throw on the floor for his first Thanksgiving either - no matter how cute the photographs of a baby and a 14 pound roasted turkey were. It is a waste of food.

And as a PP pointed out, not the intent of a birthday cake anyway.

Anonymous wrote:I can only imagine the social anxiety experienced by people who think about whether it is trashy or tacky to give a kid cake to smash on their birthday.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dear lord. Only on Dcum is giving a baby cake considered 'trashy.'

Why are people SO obsessed with class here? I don't get it.

Because so many people are trashy and classless. Not in this example necessarily but in many others. "Class" has moved in meaning beyond social classes and now represents a grace and way of carrying yourself that has nothing to do with income or education.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn't know that a birthday cake had an intent.

Plus now I'm having flashbacks to my college literature classes.

Why do you think everyone has one every year on their birthday? Of course there was an original intent. Same with Christmas trees, wreaths, birthday candles, wedding rings, wedding veils, etc. It's a matter of whether you embrace the intent or not. Like the other two (maybe three) PPs, I like the original intent of sharing birthday cake. But I am not willing to arrest those who don't!!!