NTA, i do want to ask, are you perhaps Mexican/latino? A rather annoying tradition we have is the mordida “the bite” where everyone sings “take a bite” and the birthday person takes one then usually is pushed into the cake. I have absolutely no clue where this originated but it’s existed for years and most Mexicans I know are familiar with it. I myself don’t want to continue the tradition and my parents respected my wishes as a child to skip that part as it’s humiliating sometimes AND a waste of cake depending on how much of the cake is smushed.

You being Latino doesn’t make the cake smashing ok, I just wanted to see if that was why your parents maybe did it. I see most of the commenters on here be horrified at the idea and I guess I’ve just always known it existed and didn’t think it odd before.