Every year at Christmas time, my best friend and I make a gingerbread house. We’ve been doing it since high school, so we’re going on about 10 years of this tradition.
You trying to figure out my age right now:
Cute, right? Ask me how many times we’ve been successful before this year.
Once. ONE TIME. You know why? Because we had a pre-built house that year. But still, it’s not like we’re usually slaving away in the kitchen. We use a store bought kit!
Now to be clear, I said “successful”. By successful, I mean it didn’t fully collapse and would maybe, maybe be livable for a gingerbread family who was down on its luck and were like “look, it ain’t much, but it’s a roof over our heads and we’ll have the warmth of our hearts”. (I imagine gingerbread families would be very into that corny Christmas crap… Fine, I love it too.)
Okay, now ask me how many times the house turned out super cute and Pinterest-worthy. Zero.
It’s never been pretty, people. If I had a nickel for every time we made a gingerbread house that was even in the same area code as “cute”, I would be able to afford 1 minute of metered parking in San Francisco… if the meter already had 1 minute left on it.
If you’re having doubts, please see the above picture. That’s the 2018 model, folks. In all its glory. Not even Lightroom could save it.
Still, it’s one of my most cherished holiday traditions because it’s time we dedicate every year to spend with each other.
Even with the craziness of the holidays and seeing friends and family who are in from out of town, we still do it.
Even when she was getting her master’s degree in France and only came home for a short trip during her Christmas break, we still did it.
Even when we didn’t buy a kit and tried to make a house out of graham crackers and I had to suddenly have a master’s in graham cracker architecture, we still did it.
And it was awful. And we loved it. And that’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.
I also recently started an October tradition with another friend. (Yes, I don’t mean to brag, but I have TWO friends, people!!) Basically, we have a full Halloween day where we go to a pumpkin patch, drink hard cider, and watch Hocus Pocus while baking cookies. Don’t worry, they’re the pre-made Pillsbury cookies. I don’t have the energy for baking activities twice a year. My future husband is so lucky.
So why am I sharing my total lack of baking skills with you? Aside from comic relief, it’s because I think everyone should have a tradition like this with a friend or family member. Group traditions are fun, too, of course. I mean I’ve never had enough friends to test the theory, but I’ve seen the movies. I just love one-on-one traditions because it’s sacred time to spend uninterrupted with one person, which is not always easy to come by these days. Plus, in this awkward stage between having childhood family traditions and starting our own families with our own family traditions, having separate traditions outside of it all feels really special.
End of rant. Also, is “traditions” starting to not look like a word to anyone else?
Do you have any cherished holiday traditions? Did this inspire you to make your own terrible gingerbread house? Speak yo truth in the comments below.
