Stage Jumping and Gingerbread Houses

I'm guilty of rushing Beatrice through the stages of her life. It's not that I don't enjoy the current stages that she's in while we're in them, it's just that I think the next stages are going to be so much better. I want to experience every fun thing with her right this very instant, regardless of her age. I am a stage-jumper.

Christmas is no exception. I make a big deal about having her help me with the holiday baking, the gift wrapping, and the shopping because having a little person to share it with is so much more fun than doing it by myself. I pay little attention to the fact that she can't measure flour accurately or cut things or pick out gifts that do not possess glitter or picture of kitties on them. Honestly, she's not quite ready for these stages of Christmas merriment. But you know what? I don't care. I impose my development aspirations on her nonetheless. Because it's fun!

And when the 3rd batch of Christmas cookies resulted in half eaten sticks of butter and sprinkles in every nook and cranny of our kitchen due to my little helper's "help" wasn't enough stage-jumping for me, I bought a gingerbread house kit. Because things weren't quite messy enough. I really thought it was a good idea since there's no right or wrong way to decorate a cookie house and it's a craft that is expected to be messy. I figured we couldn't go wrong with this big kid activity and would create a beautiful, edible creation.

I was wrong.

She was pretty psyched when she saw the bowls of candy and icing waiting for her when she woke up from her nap.

She was doing good for about 1 minute when she realized there were bowls of candy and icing waiting for her. The temptation proved to be too much.

She ate.

And ate.

I have about 20 more photos just like these. JD and I ended up decorating that poor gingerbread house.

I ended up eating a few bites too. Temptation and all.

The house turned out, okay. There is very little candy on it and the few pieces that did make it on the final product are slipping down the eaves and angles of my poorly constructed construction.

But like with all of the stage-jumping activities I orchestrate with Beatrice, it's not about the final product. It's about the experience.

And this was a fun one.

A delicious, fun experience.