How to Decorate a Gingerbread House

I recently wrote my December To-Do List. It included all of the fun things to do during this season with kiddos and also a plea to slow down, relax on the Type A-ness a bit, and enjoy this magical time. The holidays are truly a dream with young children and I want to be present for every moment! This past weekend we checked off a fun one: #12– Resist cringing when decorating gingerbread houses with a baby and a toddler. I made it as easy as possible, too, by buying a pre-made kit. We added some extra candy for decorating (and snacking) yet avoided extra stress by foregoing baking the gingerbread and making the frosting. Waverley had a blast putting it together, which is really the only thing that matters! Isn’t it a beautiful gingerbread house? I thought you all might be interested in how Waverley created it, so I wrote down her instructions:

1.) Lay out all of the gingerbread pieces and decorations. Make sure to taste test each type of candy to ensure they are fresh.

2.) Encourage your mom and dad to put the house together. Make sure they are doing it correctly by swiping frosting from the assembly and yelling “Oh no!” when the walls fall down.

3.) Load up one side of the roof with a lot of candy. If it looks like too much, simply eat the extras.

4.) Supervise adults closely when decorating because they will likely ruin everything.

5.) Add more frosting.

6.) When the frosting dries, sneak nibbles of it each time you walk by. Ensure you eat the candy that fell off with it.

7.) Gold sparkles belong on everything.