It's that time of the year. The time of year when I "feel hungry" all the time because someone is baking. I am writing this post as the aroma of baking sugar cookies wafts throughout the house!

It is amazing how something can bring so much joy and torture at the same time. 😃

misssp

A Holiday Tradition

For many, baking is just one of many holiday traditions celebrated with family or friends. This year, my wife and daughters have made peanut clusters (2 batches), peanut butter fudge (2 batches), and chocolate fudge. And today is Sugar Cookie Day!

Sugar Cookie Day is a recent tradition that focuses more on giving and less on consuming. Even though sugar cookies are one of my favorite cookies (probably ranked at #2 after no-bakes), most of these cookies will be passed out to friends who live in our community.

Life Lessons That Sugar Cookies Teach Us!

As a father, I really enjoy finding opportunities to teach and learn with my family. Equally enjoyable is "secretly hiding" learning opportunities into everyday life moments. Sugar Cookie Day is one of those moments.

Math and Measurements

There are some types of cooking where you can go freestyle, but baking is not one of them in my experience.

Baking requires certain amounts of ingredients at specific times to achieve the desired result. Baking is both an art and a science.

If your child can make sugar cookies without you, then she is on her way to mastering volume, fractions, and following instructions.

Teamwork and Sharing

Have you ever cooked in a kitchen full of 6 kiddos? That is a lesson that every parent should learn. Sugar Cookie Day forces our family to practice teamwork and sharing.

There is limited space, tools, and resources. We have to navigate around each other and with each other to control the chaos. Sugar Cookies Day is not just about one person. It was about what our family can do for others.

Kindness and Generosity

As I mentioned earlier, most sugar cookies will be sent with love to friends in our community. Each of our kiddos has chosen a family that they will decorate the cookies for.

These cookies will be frosted and sprinkled with specific people in mind.

When was the last time someone brought cookies to your home? How did it make you feel? I always feel loved when someone invests their precious time and gives from the heart.

I want my kiddos to learn to be kind people who give generously.

Creativity

Not all of my children are allowed to use the oven for baking the cookies, but everyone gets to show off their artistic talent. Admittedly, my 13-year-old's cookies will look more aesthetically pleasing than my 2 years olds, but everyone is invited to the table to decorate in our house.

We are not celebrating how great of an artist someone is at this moment. Instead, we are encouraging the artist that someone may be in the future.

And even when people don't feel artsy and creative, it is important to keep that part of our brains active. Another great blessing of Sugar Cookie Day!

Patience and Delayed Gratification

The raw dough has barely been rolled out, and my kiddos were already asking to decorate. The aroma of cookies is wafting through the house, and I already want to eat one (or five 😃).

Great moments in life are worth the wait! As parents, we need to help our children navigate this instant gratification focused world.

Humility

We hit a rough patch early on in the baking process when one of my daughters realized there were missing ingredients after starting the recipe.

My wife reached out to our next-door neighbor. She later stopped by and graciously gave us what we needed. I believe it is important to strive to be prepared and ready, but there are moments in life when we need some each help from those around us.

In these moments of need, we have to speak up with humility. Our children will model how we reach out to others in our time of need.

Final Thoughts

Today is not just another day. Today is Sugar Cookie Day. Today was filled with life lessons and learning opportunities - carefully hidden in everyday moments and laugh-inducing activities.

Today was special because today was about family. But that is what is great about my life. When I open my hands, head, and heart, every day can be about family.

@SumatraNate