Death of a Bake Sale

Today my son had a bake sale at his school. Since it wasn’t his class that was coordinating, I didn’t have to bake anything, but I was looking forward to the yummy treats that he was going to bring home with the three dollars I tucked in his pocket. I was very disappointed when he came home with Oreos and a brownie and muffin that clearly came from a boxed mix. Come on Moms, what is wrong with us? Are we that lazy/over-worked/baking illiterate that we can’t come up with something homemade? You don’t even see homemade rice krispies anymore. There are also so many restrictions that come with bake sales these days too. Some schools have no nut policies, so that takes away the peanut butter cookies and anything with nuts in it (which is usually the only healthy part of a baked good anyways). A lot of schools are getting rid of bake sales, because they "encourage" pediatric obesity (I say everything in moderation). Since my son’s school is even connected to federal funding, they have a policy that you can only bring in treats that are purchased and wrapped up, which means no homemade birthday treats. So that meant for today’s bake sale the kid’s could buy things, but they couldn’t eat them until they got home. It really is sad. The end of a baking era is near. Goodbye, my sweet bake sale, goodbye. Perhaps someday we will meet again.