For many years now my house has been the site of some Christmas craziness, the Gingerbread Sleepover. One night in December, my grandkids visit and we spend the afternoon and evening mixing frosting, sorting candies, constructing gingerbread houses and of course, decorating them.
I started this annual event when I had just one granddaughter, RaeAnne, who is now 11 years old. On a whim I picked up a little Wilton gingerbread house kit and invited then 3-year-old Rae over to decorate.
It was so much fun I decided to do it again with both of my little granddaughters, so little Genevieve joined us the next year. I bought a generic gingerbread house kit and it was a disaster. Pieces were broken and the frosting didn’t set properly. But we had fun. I have some adorable photos of the girls eating the house pieces that wouldn’t go together properly.
The tradition has continued and became a little crazier as Carter and AnnaBelle were born in the same year. Four gingerbread houses is a bit chaotic, but thankfully Wilton has a gingerbread house kit with five houses, which I purchased for several years. And with five houses in the kit, I got to create one myself.
Our last grandchild, Eloise, has joined the fun for three years now. Since she was so little she and I worked on her house together. In fact, the year before this one, she fell asleep on the couch and I ended up finishing the decorations on her house. I have an adorable picture of her dozing with “her” house sitting next to her.
This year all of them—even 4-year-old Eloise—were able to do most of the work and all of the decorating on their own. They are very imaginative. We’ve moved on from the Wilton kits and we now use graham crackers to make our own style of houses. I had Peeps gingerbread men, spearmint leaves, pretzel sticks, candy canes, red and green M&Ms, wafer cookies, Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal pieces, and more for decorating. Using the various treats, they made candy cane hats for the Peeps gingerbread men, fancy roofs and chimneys, mailboxes and more. Their creations are delightful decorations on my dining room table.
Because they are all old enough now to not really need that much help, I built my own gingerbread house too. Mine is very traditional looking, not as much fun as the grandkids’ masterpieces. But it was fun. It’s a wonderful way to spend an afternoon.
In addition to creating a gingerbread village, I get them to help me put up some Christmas decorations. I have a Christmas village that goes in my living room bay window. They helped me unpack the houses and lay down the fluffy white snow. They helped me hang the fabric Advent calendar made by my aunt Florence. They shook our snow globes and found places to display them. And they set up my German crèche, putting baby Jesus in his place of honor.
As they unpacked—tossing wrapping everywhere in the excitement—there were a lot of explanations, “This is cool!’ and “Where did you get this?” and when they found a wood saw prop that I had saved from their last year’s Christmas program, “I remember this!”
After making our gingerbread houses and decorating, we snacked on gingerbread house décor candies and played games. By the time we realized it was bedtime, it was late so I said I would read only one story—a Christmas story. With five kids, an argument began over who would get to pick the story from my Christmas book collection. To head off the fight, I said I’d pick the story.
As I peered into the basket with Christmas books, I saw the perfect tale—The Great Christmas Adventure: A special story about you & Santa Claus. It is a book that my mom bought for my sons when they were probably 6 and 3 years old. It is one of those books that lets parents or grandparents enter the names of beloved children. I thought the grandkids would like a story written for their dads.
The little book starts with a polar bear mother reading a story about two little boys and their Christmas adventure. The two little boys—Benjamin and Gideon—lived in a wonderful place called Fort Ord, California with their dog, Pauncho. As I read and the grandkids figured out the fairytale was about their dads they listened with rapt attention. They were amazed that the book mentioned their dads—as little boys, of course— as they traveled to the North Pole with Santa and eventually ended up saving Christmas!
My mom probably forgot about the delightful little book. But it has been one of the best gifts ever, enjoyed by my sons and now by their kids. As we finished the book, Genevieve said, “Someone should do a book about all of us!”
Maybe I will someday. But for now, a column will have to do.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Christmas is a bridge. We need bridges as the river of time flows past. Today’s Christmas should mean creating happy hours for tomorrow and reliving those of yesterday.
Gladys Tabor
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