The high cost of pleasing 28 kids on my son's birthday...

Yesterday's post was a downer. Sorry.

On another note, why do cupcakes in the grocery store have to cost so freaking much?
My son's school has made a rule you can't bring any homemade treats to class anymore. I understand the reasons why- with some of those kids you wonder what kind of homes they come from and how "clean" their cooking areas are. It's kind of creepy, really.

It brings to memory a friend of mine I had in grade school. James (name has been changed, of course) came from a home that was... well, troubled. The mom never cleaned the house and the kids never did, either. His kitchen was a complete disaster area. (True, I have said my kitchen is a disaster area sometimes, but not in this way.) Dead bugs in the cabinets, crunchy cereal all over the floors, old dirty dishes from weeks ago on the conters and table. It was truly gross!

One day, he and I decided we wanted to make some cookies. After what seemed like hours of cleaning we finally had a workable surface. I shutter to think now that we ate those cookies, considering we had to pick out the bugs from the flour. (blech!) Anyway, it makes me appreciate the rule at my son's school now. But that doesn't mean I like it.

If I made cupcakes at home, they would cost me about $5 total, thick frosting, cute colors, yummy cake. Buy them from the store and I would pay $25 at the very least to feed all the students in his class.

I said to heck with that and bought frosted sugar cookies instead. Cost: $10, cost to make them at home: $3.50.

I am somewhat morally opposed to pre-packaged, pre-made foods in general. Hamburger Helper is a sin, in my opinion. Frozen pastas and dishes are extremely expensive, and aren't anywhere near as good as homemade, if edible at all. I used to shop at Harmons grocery store, but their baked goods are astronomically expensive! Their pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are $7 for a package of 8. Smith's are much more reasonable at $3.99, but still, homemade is always better.

So, why can't the school make an exception just for me? I'll take a picture of my kitchen counters and show them they are clean- bug free! Alas, we went with the sugar cookies and I'm sure the kids won't give a hoot where they came from, or how expensive they were.

At what age do kids not bring treats for their birthdays anymore? Just wondering...