There are a lot of great family traditions families enjoy this time of year. From cutting your own Christmas tree to visiting relatives on Christmas Eve, traditions are what make the holidays so special. One of our favorites is the family Christmas cookie day. Is that something your family does?
A family Christmas cookie day is a day when all the family gathers in the kitchen to make Christmas cookies. We know of families who started this tradition when the kids were still young, then continue to carry it forward into adulthood. Now they have three and four generations all gathering on that special day to make a unique holiday treat.
Yes, family Christmas cookie days can be messy. But the benefits you reap from them far surpass any messiness in the kitchen. You can create a lot of memories with cookie cutters, sprinkles, and icing.
A Time of Family Bonding
It is common knowledge that the kitchen is a social place. For some reason, human beings tend to associate food with social gatherings. So why not take advantage of that tendency and enjoy one another’s company by making Christmas cookies together? An annual cookie day makes for a great family bonding opportunity.
This writer remembers family cookie day growing up. Some of my fondest memories of Christmas are wrapped up in the time spent with my siblings and mother in the kitchen. When I got married, my spouse and I continued the tradition with our kids. Now we have grandchildren. Guess what? We join them and their parents to make cookies as well.
Avoiding Conflicts in the Kitchen
At this point, we have to stop and talk about conflicts. It is human nature for disagreements to arise when there is more than one cook in the kitchen. So how do you avoid problems? Every family is different, so there aren’t any black and white answers. But there are some things you can try.
First, assign every family member a task. Everybody can do something. It’s okay if some of the young ones overlap here and there, just so long as each family member has an assignment. It is also a good idea to rotate assignments during the day so that everyone gets to try every task at least once.
Another thing you can do is make a game of it. Maybe you have two of the kids taking control of the cookie cutters. Let them compete to see who can get the largest number of cookies out of a single sheet of dough. You can also play a game where everyone has to sing Christmas carols when there’s nothing to do, like when you’re waiting for the next batch to come out of the oven.
Keep the Time Reasonable
One last thing to consider is how much time you’ll spend in the kitchen. Anyone who has spent 10 hours preparing a Thanksgiving meal knows that things can get pretty tedious around hour seven or eight. The same is true when you’re making Christmas cookies. Keep the time reasonable.
Understand that the family will get fidgety after a few hours. So maybe start at nine o’clock in the morning with the goal of being done by early afternoon. As an incentive, schedule pizza delivery for one or two o’clock. That is motivation to get the job done in a reasonable amount of time.
Family Christmas cookie day is a wonderful way to enjoy some holiday time together while creating memories that will last a lifetime. Is cookie day one of your traditions already? If not, what else does your family do? Whether it is Christmas cookies or something else, traditions are what makes this time of year so special.
From our family to yours, Merry Christmas and happy new year!