As the day of Christmas gets closer, the list seems to get bigger and more out of control. I am taking steps simplify shopping and gift giving. Yet for some reason, cookies have taken me to a place of chaos. Let me tell you how cookies have brought me to my knees...
I have been "breezy" this season with almost everything. I have enjoyed time I would normally be running around trying to make Christmas perfect, sitting on the couch reading Christmas stories to my daughter. Then I remembered a "must" for Christmas the cookies! Now to explain the stress of this seemingly stress free task, I must give you a rare glimpse into my life...
1. My family is gluten free - yes - no all purpose flour in our home, which means cookies are harder to make and less tasty (more crumbly). This leads to several problems: you can not go out and buy cookies and make them festive, you can not join a cookie exchange to get variety, or even use your grandma's recipes.
2. I normally make dozens of kinds of cookies/bars. We have 3 people in this house and I bake like I am feeding a small country. I know this is my own expectation I have placed on myself since my grandma would bake dozens of cookies and mail them out to people - which I have never done I still feel the need make tons!
3. Time and money - cookies need lots of both. Since I never seem to find the items I need for cookies I start fresh every year and find I now have 3 when I get home from the store. Stores are full of choices, crowds and high prices. The store is the reason for this blog!
Now the holiday meltdown...I was in a rush trying to fit too may things into my day off. Kevin and I made plans for me to be home at 4 pm, eat dinner and make cookies as a family to help with the stress.
Fast forward a crazy day to Target at 3 pm, I have not yet gotten groceries for the week or anything for baking in 1 hour, I am freaking out.(that may be a kind way to say what happened). I was at a new Target who seemed to have a rush on EVERYTHING I needed to make this tradition a reality. I was honestly loosing my mind, I felt like the biggest failure as I left the parking lot with half of the ingredients I needed, over priced GF flour, and only oranges for food for the week. Yes, tears fell on my way home knowing no baking was going to happen and I was 30 minutes late. I arrived home to have my husband so kindly bring in the bags and ask where are the pizzas for dinner? Oh my I even forgot the pizzas?! As the thought of everything I did not do that day started to overwhelm me, I looked at my daughter, her smile reminded me she did not care about the amount of cookies we baked, just that she wanted to be with her mom.
It was a humbling moment. I had stressed, cried and got upset over baking cookies to miss the bigger picture - making memories with my family! I took a breathe and we had a blast making Christmas Rice Krispie treats.
My friends I once again was reminded to keep things simple, to find a silver lining and to enjoy every moment God gives us.
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