For four years before my daughter’s birth, I’ve been hosting a holiday party for my family and friends. Each year, the guest list increases a little, there’s a few more treats, and my twelve year old contributes a bit more.
While we’ve made cookies together in the past, Quinn baked the chocolate chip and Christmas M & M cookies from start to finish, and they were deliciously made with love and a festive spirit.
All the best,
Tanya
On the Eleventh Day of Christmas, My Daughter Gave to Me…Fun Baking Yummy Cookies!
I love baking cookies, especially with my daughter, especially around this time of the year. It strengthens our mother daughter bond and allows us to have a tasty treat to eat and share with some of our loved ones.
Every year, Quinn gets better and better at helping to bake from start to finish. She helps measure the ingredients, sift the flour, add the ingredients to the mixer, including cracking an egg all on her own this year, and getting the cookie batter on the baking sheets. She told me that she loves being my assistant, and that one day I’ll be able to be her assistant. This made me think about when I would help my mom bake as a child or even help my grandmother.
There truly is just something so special about baking and relating together. I just love this festive time!
All the best,
Tanya
On the twelfth day of Christmas, my daughter gave to me…Christmas Eve excitement. “You know what today is, Mommy…Christmas Eve!” my four year old smiled with joy in her voice. Today, we baked cookies for Santa, our Elf on the Shelf, Olivia, went to her last hiding place to report back to Santa, we watched a Trolls holiday special through Netflix and made sure her little snowflake in her window is working and lights up to alert Santa to stop by our house.
She went out to lunch with her daddy while I took care of some Christmas tasks, and upon arriving home she said, “Mommy, can I go to bed now so that when I wake up it’ll be Christmas?” It reminded me of when I was younger and would go to sleep in the afternoon just so that Christmas would come sooner. I then located this great website so that Quinn could see where Santa is on his route, and she was amazed with how many presents he already delivered: nearly three million.
As she goes to bed in her special Christmas night clothes, I’m sure she’ll wake up extra early as I did when I was her age filled with excitement knowing that Christmas is finally here!
All the best,
Tanya
Quinn is Ready to Bake Cookies for Santa
On the twelfth day of Christmas, my toddler gave to me joy selecting a Christmas tree, memorable moments decorating, festive and fun goofing around, partying all night, excitement while visiting Santa Claus, counting down the days, happiness at Sesame Place, bonding time making our own tree, befriending Santa’s elf on the shelf, creating a chocolate cookie candy train, receiving messages from the North Pole and baking cookies for Santa Claus!
One of my favorite Christmas activities since I was a young child is baking Christmas cookies for Santa with my siblings and mother. Now, it feels wonderful to continue that tradition with my two and a half year old daughter. Even though I do like preparing the cookies from scratch, sometimes Quinn loses interest when we are baking, so to ensure that it was a fun and quick activity for her, we used the pre-made Pillsbury sugar cookies and a cookie pan with the shapes already cut out.
To make baking cookies for Santa memorable for my little girl and to establish our own Christmas Eve tradition, we used a special plate just for Santa that Quinn’s auntie purchased for her, and I gave her a little red apron that says, “Santa’s Little Helper” to make her feel special and like a real baker.
Quinn’s favorite part, which was mine too when I was younger, is putting sprinkles on the cookies and, of course, having a cookie or two to make sure they are perfect for Santa.
Happy holidays,
Tanya H. Franklin
Quinn Making Sure Santa’s Cookies Are Tasty
Mommy's Baby Steps 