Today, the Little and Littler Misses, my daughter and I decorated a gingerbread house in front of the Christmas tree.
This was not an exercise in design, technique or even baking (I confess, I bought pre-fab gingerbread and the Culinary Enthusiast and I put it together last night, sending a photo to the girls to whet their enthusiasm for the project). It certainly wasn’t a quest for perfection.
Instead, it was a time for the little ones to have the excitement of making something together, bowls (bowls!) of candy to choose from, and learning that sometimes things fall off and you have to glue them back on.
Littler Miss spent much of the time transferring candy between bowls, back and forth and back again. Little Miss was enchanted by the art of decorating the house with candy, until she wasn’t any more, and then her Mommy and I finished.
There was some eating of candy, and some spitting out of candy that didn’t meet high standards. Some of those pieces may even have made it onto the house. (For the record, we’re not planning to eat it.)
Is there any sweeter simple pleasure than little hands working together, squeals of excitement and a child’s pride in accomplishment? “Look, I made that with Mommy and my sister!”
Our gingerbread house has pride of place in our home this Christmas season, reminding me that the best holiday pleasures are the simple ones.
