Everyone knows that the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas has quickly become the most hectic time of the year. It’s so easy to fill our schedules with baking and cooking and traveling and visiting and caroling and parties and decorating and traditions and Church services and Christmas plays and shopping and Santa and on and on and on it goes until we’re so overwhelmed that we secretly start hating the entire holiday season. We quickly go from thriving and enjoying every moment and making memories and loving the magic of Christmas to get-it-done mode. Just make it to New Years, we tell ourselves. Just pack in as much as we absolutely have to and get through it. Christmas starts to feel like having a tooth pulled–minus the Novocaine.

There are a million reasons why this is a terrible way to finish our year, one of which is our children. We can’t just barrel through the holidays, running over our little ones in the process, wishing the whole time that we could’ve fallen asleep on December 1 and awakened on January 1 having avoided all the craziness altogether.

I’ve lately found myself falling prey to that way of thinking. There are so many fun memories I want my babies to have that I’ve started just doing stuff with a “get through it” attitude. Sometimes, I don’t even let them be involved! I just do it so that it’s done, and, in the end, it wasn’t fun for anybody! What a terrible way to spend my favorite time of year! But then I thought, if this is about the children anyway, why not let them be involved? Who cares if it’s not “perfect”? It’s really OK that the gingerbread men aren’t elaborately painted. No one will complain if the gifts are wrapped with crinkled paper because little hands were involved. What difference does it make if all of the ornaments are hung on the tree at the eye level of a not-quite-two year-old? Who cares if the Pinterest-perfect wreath I had envisioned is replaced by some greenery from the back yard and a lopsided bow because my daughter wanted to help? NONE OF THAT MATTERS!

What does matter is that my little girls will grow up remembering that they had an important role to play in our festivities. They will have memories, not just of a photo-worthy Christmas, but of quality time spent as a family. My house may not make Better Homes and Gardens jealous, but my babies will never forget the love that was baked into every cookie and the investment of time that was poured into them.

That being said, I decided to put my theory to the test. I strapped my newborn into the wrap and let my toddler help me make gingerbread men last week. They weren’t the prettiest cookies I’ve ever made, and we had to re-roll the dough many times when she, in her enthusiasm over using the cookie cutters, became a little carried away and decapitated 2 snowmen and an angel in one fell swoop, but she loved feeling like a big girl as she helped me mix ingredients, cut out the pretty shapes, and drizzle colorful icing over the finished product.

I wish I could say that this is my family’s secret gingerbread cookie recipe, but, if there is such a thing, it has not been shared with me (ahh, the curse of being a blogger/writer!), but it is one that I created, and it is good! Try them, and make some memories this Christmas. 

The BEST Gingerbread Cookies

• 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup oat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp cloves
• 3/4 cup butter, melted
• 3/4 cup coconut sugar
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 2 eggs

Mix all the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients and mix well. Roll out on a floured surface to 1/8 inch thick, and cut with the cookie cutters of your choice. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper and place cut cookies onto the pans. Bake at 325F for 8 minutes. Allow to cool and then ice with basic Royal icing (or whatever icing you like best).

Mix all the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients and mix well. Roll out on a floured surface to 1/8 inch thick, and cut with the cookie cutters of your choice. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper and place cut cookies onto the pans. Bake at 325F for 8 minutes. Allow to cool and then ice with basic Royal icing (or whatever icing you like best).

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The Best Gingerbread Cookies

Author Amy Ledyard

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup oat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp cloves
• 3/4 cup butter melted
• 3/4 cup coconut sugar
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 2 eggs

Instructions

• Mix all the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients and mix well. Roll out on a floured surface to 1/8 inch thick, and cut with the cookie cutters of your choice. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper and place cut cookies onto the pans. Bake at 325F for 8 minutes. Allow to cool and then ice with basic Royal icing (or whatever icing you like best).

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Articles by Amy Ledyard

Amy Ledyard

Amy is a follower of Jesus, wife, and Momma living in the Carolinas. A former nurse, she is now staying home to be a full-time Mom, growing her lifestyle blog http://www.astoldbyamy.com/and keeping in touch with her creative side in pursuing her new favorite hobby: photography. Amy loves swimming, pretty much anything outdoors, a good cup of (decaf) coffee, traveling, and quality time with the ones she loves. She and her husband have an ever-growing list of places to visit, and Amy hasn't given up hope of one day living overseas.

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