Falling Gingerbread Houses

Does anyone else feel like Christmas just jumped up on us? I say every year, I am not going to be last minute, but…. LOL.

We all let time get the best of us, and here I am at 9 o’clock at night the week of Christmas trying to get in building a gingerbread house from the kit I bought two weeks ago. Anyone relate? Oh, and let’s not even mention the fact that we had just got back from being in our driveway with Cooper having no pants on to see the Christmas Star while Blake is chasing our golden doodle down so she doesn’t scare our neighbors to death. It is a circus at our house until we go to sleep.

I had such good intentions when I bought the kit. I envisioned the boys and I around the table, laughing, the “perfect” looking house with cute little gingerbread men in the front. You know the classic holiday scene. It was going to be a fantastic experience for me to blog about. HAHAHA, I thought I would even be able to give out some tips on building. JOKES on JOKES.

But this is 2020, I have a toddler and 7-month-old. I have ZERO experience in gingerbread house making. Blake and I start disagreeing from the get go on how to use the icing to make the house stand up. Eli is yelling in his new found baby language in the back ground because he can’t sit on the table to knock down the house. Cooper is only worried about eating his new found favorite candy, gum drops. Needless to say, take my advice and wait until your children understand the concept of house building before buying a kit. You cannot even eat it! Cooper and I finally gave up and tried that, but it was so hard I was terrified it would break our teeth. Talk about a Mom holiday fail.

Once I got the mess cleaned up and Cooper’s gum drop gummies swapped out for his melatonin gummy, I started thinking about all of the events from the evening. All after work I had completed a Mainstreet committee meeting via zoom with hangry kids in the background, started cooking dinner during the meeting, started the dishwasher, wrapped presents, fed said hangry children, fed our dogs, viewed the Christmas star, and attempted to build a gingerbread house with my favorite two-year-old. Am I nuts? YES.

Sometimes we get so caught up in trying to “do it all” we forget to take in the moment. As I am typing this, I start thinking about how Cooper was so excited he could see the star, how much Eli loves the tree while I am wrapping presents, the look on Blake’s face as Cooper knocked off the roof of our gingerbread house for the 10th time. That IS the perfect moment. Those memories I will hold on to for the rest of my life. Even in the midst of pure chaos, there are these small moments that I never want to forget about my family.

The kids are growing so fast. One of my best friends recently just a had her first child, and she made the comment how quickly he is growing and changing. I wanted to say, girl, you know nothing yet. You are going to want to pause time and just hold on to that little smile forever. You are going to just stop what you are doing and stare at him sometimes because you never want that image of their perfect little face to fade from your memory.

If I can leave you with anything from this random blog before Christmas, it is this. Take the time to pause. Look around in the midst of chaos and burn those images in your memory. Time flies, our situations change, but one thing that you will never regret is the time spent with the ones that you love the most. Squeeze those babies and your significant other a little tighter today and try to slow down in the middle of your hustle and bustle to take in the moment. I promise, you will not regret it.

Merry Christmas, loves. I hope you have the best holiday with your families and enjoy you a well-deserved pour of your favorite wine.

XOXO

-Paige