Back in the summer, CaCa proved to be a kind and patient soul when he introduced Robbie to baking cookies.  CaCa didn’t care about any messes, and Allie dutifully snapped pictures. I, however, have a very difficult time relinquishing control at any given time, particularly if it is going to result in any sort of mess or deviate from the way I expect things to go.

Enter the yearly Christmas cookie making…  It’s supposed to be about family and memories and spending time together – not about having perfect cookies.  Right?  Surely it’s more important that Robbie have the fun of cookies without the added pressure of my need for them to be perfect.  And, as difficult as it was for me, I gave up control.

And so Robbie dumped in the flour – and sugar and salt and, well, anything dumpable.

And he broke the eggs.  On the counter.  But they slid pretty easily into the bowl.  And the shells practically came out of the mixture on their own.

Yes, there was a mess.  Bigger than I would have made.  But you know what?  It cleaned up pretty fast.  And Robbie thought baking cookies with Mama and Daddy was pretty incredible.  The even tasted pretty good to boot.

The best part, however, may have been watching Robbie bake his own pretend cookies.  To make room for rolling the cookies, I had to move the toaster oven.  Robbie took the opportunity to pretend to make cookies in there and then,  very carefully, took his cooling rack to the dining room next to the real cookies.  He told me “Careful, Mom.  Really hot.”  In case you can’t tell, it’s a moose magnet and a dirty sock that didn’t make it all the way to the laundry room…

Almost looks like the real thing, doesn’t it?