That time of year is coming soon. Christmas that is. I love Christmas. My favorite part of Christmas is the excitement that the kids have. Children view Christmas as a very magical time. When I look at the excitement on a child's face, I know that it takes magic to put it there. In fact, I love a child's excitement so much that I try to do everything that I possible can to get more of it. I will come up with every family activity that I possibly can to get my family to the peak of excitement. Here is my first suggestion.
First and foremost in my family is baking Christmas cookies. For my mom, sister and I, we can spend weeks of planning and preparation for this event. The men in the family break up in two groups. One group leaves the house entirely in order to have their own time. The other group watches television in another room waiting to be taste testers for each different kind of cookie that we come up with. The children, all girls, have different responsibilities in the kitchen. The two 10-year-olds actually get to pick out recipes and make them. The 7-year-old usually helps with mixing and decorating. The 2-year-old is in charge of candy sprinkles.
Baking Christmas cookies can be as simple as cut-out sugar cookies or as complicated as decadent candies and other treats. You can get recipes from any book or craft store to suit your needs. As a matter of fact, you can download recipes from the Internet.
Before our children came along, my mom and I would try a couple new recipes each year always trying to "WOW!" the men in our family. Since the children, we have gotten back to the more playful sugar cookies. We definitely had to start scaling back. One year, we spent a day mixing and ten hours the next day baking. At the end of the second day, we still had hours of baking ahead of us. At this, we had to pledge to reduce the amount of cookies. The excitement on the kids' faces had turned to exhaustion.
The actual act of baking cookies is a wonderful bonding experience. There is the obvious bonding among the women as we create our favorite cookies and with the children as we all help the little ones decorate them. Last year, however, held an especially magic moment in my family. My daughter decorated her first cookie and gave it to her daddy. He just melted. I thought he was going to cry. He admitted that it was the best cookie he ever tasted.
That is the magic of Christmas. I suggest that you try baking cookies this Christmas with your family. If you don't think that you have a lot of time, there are plenty of short cuts. Most stores have the cookies already mixed. All you need to do is bake. Sometimes, you can even find cookies that are pre-cut into Christmas trees and Santas. You just bake and decorate. The decorating is the best part for toddlers.
In addition to this being a wonderful family activity, we always package cookies in decorative containers and give them as gifts. Everyone loves fresh baked cookies.
This article was written by Sandy. I am a parent who is concerned with giving my children the best start in life. Since my first child didn't come with a manual, I have found other parents' advice invaluable. I would like to pass on what I have learned and hope that other parents would like to do the same. I have recently been reminded of how important my family is and that my family should always come first. Please visit my blog at The Family Comes First. Hope to see you there.
Sandy
