Personally I couldn't be bothered doing birthdays and I don't think anyone else can either. They have popcorn parties for special rewards where they get a handful of popcorn and 10 minutes extra play. The exception would be a fifth birthday at preschool because most kids here Finish preschool on their fifth birthday and start school the next day (or finish the day before and start school on their birthday). The friends kid was at a shared lunch at school as part of some event.
Just for fun, I counted the emails from the teacher regarding food items provided by parents to be served during class this school year, and there were 45+ of them. This doesn't include parties.
The kids take snacks from home every day - do they really need that many "special" snacks over the course of the year? And that count doesn't include the times *I* took in treats for the class, LOL. On a few occasions the kids had more than one special snack a day. And there will probably be a few more before school ends.
I am jealous of those of you that live in areas where the schools aren't like this. Personally I only remember having cupcakes on a very few occasions- usually holidays. Makes me wonder what changed...
