So even though my kids are very small now, it's something we've attempted the past two years already. And this year I learned something VERY important - don't ever try a new recipe for the first time with your kids.
It just. didn't. work.
It was a new sugar cookie recipe that included baking soda, baking powder and cream of tartar. And the recipe didn't seem to have enough flour. So when Lucas and I tried to roll it out, all we got was a big, sticky mess. I had mixed the dough while the kids were in school, and it had chilled in the fridge until we were ready to bake the cookies.
I also realized I had the occasion to use this "situation" to teach Lucas some things too. He is in a stage, how can I put it nicely, where he is exploring the full range of his emotional capabilities. So before he had a complete meltdown about our futile cookie attempt, I tried to help him see how we could keep trying, sometimes things just don't work the first time, you have to be patient while mommy figures this out etc.
In the end he and Elena were happy to just play with the dough, adding flour and colored sugar to their hearts content, and making a big mess out of it.
Of course I didn't give them all the dough and was able to salvage a few cookies later on that we had fun decorating. And next week we'll try again with my old stand-by recipe (aka - my mom's :))
What Christmas traditions are you passing on to your kids?
Haha. So glad you could find a way to make the best of a cookie recipe. I'm sure they had fun eating them too!
ReplyDeleteI have no kids yet, but we are "creating" or mixing our christmas traditions here on campus! (I'm living with 2 roommates, they helped me to decorate the house and are learning to sing christmas songs in English! :P )
ReplyDeletehaha as long as you give your kids free license to have fun any mishap turns into a win!
ReplyDeletemy oldest is two so we haven't started traditions really. I'm planning on elf on a shelf next year though =)