I love traditions. My husband cracks up at me because if we do something once, and enjoy it, then I make it a tradition to do that same thing every year! It seems like this time of year we have my made up traditions coming out of the woodwork. One tradition that got its start last year in our home, and will continue for as long as I can pull it off with my children, is that of the missing gingerbread man cookie. You may (or may not) recall last year that in this post (It’s 2pm…Do You Know Where Your Gingerbread Man is?) I documented the start of this fun tradition. Based on an experience I had and remember vividly from Kindergarten and based on the story about the "run run as fast as you can" gingerbread man, we once again made gingerbread men cookies. In the oven they went… eight at a time. Out of the oven, much to my short attention spanned children’s dismay(which in short means that they couldn’t sit in front of the oven for the entire baking time), came 7 little gingerbread men. One gingerbread man from each batch got loose, and my kids went on a massive gingerbread man hunt to find them.
It happened to snow on the day of the gingerbread man adventure and Jacob swore that he saw itsy bitty footprints in the snow, resembling the gingerbread man’s footprint. Kelly was convinced that the gingerbread man somehow got flushed down the toilet. Either way, the hunt went on and on for several hours. The kids called Grandma so she could be involved in the hunt, because you never know… the gingerbread men could have easily left our house in Kansas City and make it all the way down to the southern tip of Texas in just a couple of hours. What takes humans two days by car is apparently just a short jaunt for gingerbread men.
Two days later, Kelly found a crumb on the floor that she is confident came from the missing gingerbread man. Her discovery started the hunt all over again!
What I love about this tradition is the imagination and the sense of wonder that it brings out in my kids. That magic is often dismantled after a few years in elementary school. My goal is to keep it alive as long as possible. Children need and thrive on traditions. My five year old is now at an age where he remembers things we did last year and longs to do them again this year. It is a fun time…a fun age… and a magical moment captured in my memory forever.
If you want to start your own Gingerbread Man tradition, head over to Sandi’s blog from the Whistlestop Cafe. In my opinion, she has the best recipe ever for Gingerbread men cookies.
This post is meant to serve as my entry for Susan from Food Blogga’s "Eat Christmas Cookies" event. Cookies are flying in from all over the world at Susan’s place. Make sure to stop in over there to get some inspiration and then to cook up some goodness of your own. Happy memory making!
I arrived here from your flickr photo,
I felt in the image itself the sens of wonder come through: I did feel it, It made me dream, even at 73.
That is so funny! What a great post!
What a sweet tradition! And what happy holiday memories you’re creating for your children!
(Mmmm… gingerbread!!)
Beautiful Kristen! It’s what we all love about the new eyes of a child! It’s what we each need to keep just a little spark of as we grow.
Lovely post, Kristen.
I have never made edible gingerbread, but I did make those gingerbread ornaments for a wreath once, and the house smelled lovely.
Kristen, these little guys will be a delightful addition to Eat Christmas Cookies. Surrounded by the festive ornaments, they look like they’re ready for Christmas! Thanks for the delicious submission, and thanks to Sandi. -Susan
absolutely adorable!
I keep thinking of the gingerbread man in Shrek!
Wonderful tradtion – do they ever find them?
I still so love this gingerbread tradition. What a great post, I agree with everything you have said about children needing traditions but somehow I have still become somewhat anti-tradition in my adult age. Maybe because I moved so much and so often. Maybe when I have children, I will have more traditions.
Those look great – not to mention adorable! I love gingerbread men, even if it’s not a portuguese tradition. I so wished i could find a cutter like that.
I’m so happy to read you are continuing this tradition–I love it! Oh the joy it would be to be a kid again! 🙂
Love the photos, too! SO cute!!!
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Slurp @ the Ginger bread men! Enjoy:)))
What great fun for the kids and "kids at heart"!! My daughter used to think that all of her stuffed animals came to life on Easter morning. She always delighted in her one rascally rabbit dancing in the plant during the night and the others playing marbles, etc….They hid her eggs and she would be off like lightning to find them…
I’ve discovered just this year that I love the SMELL of ginger and gingerbread but not necessarily the taste of gingerbread. Odd, huh?
What a lovely tradition, I’ll have to rememer that to do with my nieces and nephews when they get older.
(and congrats on the Well Fed Blog nomination!)
What a fun game!! My husband and I talk a lot about the kinds of traditions we want to have when we have kids. This one sounds like so much fun!
They’re so adorable. But, I’ll bite their heads off!
Check and see what Ginger and Brad are up to this year…