My Creativity vs. My Children

So Mom Mom comes over with the Wilton Do-It-Yourself Gingerbread House as a Thanksgiving present/activity for the family. I think, aw, oh sweet, Kendall will love to do this. I will let her be in charge of the placement of the piece of candy Ethan hands to her and Andy and I will oversee this. Typically that is how my thought process works, until the box is open, the contents spilt onto the table, and in my head pops the most glorious gingerbread houses of all time.

It starts something like this. Andy wanting to perfect the edges of the gingerbread house so that architecturally the pieces will fit together perfectly, and if anything, if we were magically shrunk and needed shelter, this would provide the most perfect accommodations. Kendall in the background, "Daddy, can I hold that, Mommy can I taste that icing again, hey what kind of candy is this...." and so on. An hour passes so that that sides can adhere themselves together and I get icing in the decorators bag, and I am off to embark on the first Family Christmas Activity of the season. Kendall picks up the first piece of candy and places it. It sticks and then begins to slowly slide down the side of the house, leaving a sticky, glupey trail behind it, and plops down on to the cardboard base. "oh that looks so nice Mommy." Andy immediately gives up and says, "well I think we should get another one, and have this one be the messy one."

I am not so keen on gingerbread houses to begin with, I mean they take up a lot of space, and lets face it unless you are a pastry chef for the White House, that gingerbread house isn't going to be something to put on a pedestal for all to see.

Ethan is not interested at this point at all, could care less. It is now 8 p.m. and the Dancing with the Stars Finale is about to start, dilemma. So we move the entire operation downstairs. The entire time we are decorating I am battling the urge to take the candy house and run upstairs to complete the masterpiece. I am terrible.

Ethan then takes notice of the beautifully colored treats, picks up the bag that of course contains the smallest of pieces and in an effort to help me, "here go ma," he dumps them all over the table. In the midst of me cleaning up the millions of pieces that have scattered all over the floor, Kendall seizes the opportunity to decorate the house on her own. "oh and mommy this icing is just so good!" 10x and water kid, its a secret recipe.What a mess. My creative juice is flowing all over the floor, and we just have to call it a night before mass destruction takes place.

So in an attempt to try and rescue the house, I begin to decorate and attempt to "flip" it so that it will take on some resemblance of a house for I don't know what,this morning while the children are watching Imagination Movers. It is as if they heard the energy or something, up the stairs, "Oh Mommy, good we are going to finish it." So I got to get my hands on it for about 10 minutes alone. Then the rest of the morning went so much better, since I had had my cup of coffee I was much more at ease to be the foreman and point to where things should be and get my hands on it if necessary.

Here it is our christmas project #1, really its nothing.

Just Kidding, perhaps since we are starting them young, one day they will construct a gingerbread house like that.Here is our shanty:




Ethan would not pose for a picture with the house, perhaps he was too embarrassed to call it his.