I'm never doing that as a Grandmother...

From the “I’m never going to do that when I’m a grandmother” pointer…I’ve already done the following:

Gravitate toward the toy/baby aisles…just in case there is a bargain meant for me.

Take something to the grandbabies every time I visit. Even shop online and have things sent there.

Always have a couple of new or “gently used” toys or books at Grammie’s house.

And...Make cut-out sugar cookies.

Yes, I swore off cut-out sugar cookies many years ago when I realized they just added to my stress level at Christmas. I could never get them up off the “dusted” board without adding a lot more flour, but then they didn’t taste so great. Recently I saw the cutest little yellow butterfly cookie cutter and thought about how much C likes butterflies. Butterflies are kind of a “thing” between us. So of course, Grammie bought it so we could have some good one-on-one time.

Instead of making the dough from scratch I thought I would be smarter to purchase a tube which was meant to be sliced and baked. I assumed we could probably roll it out and cut it out - after all, the label on the packaging showed star-shaped cookies.

Bad assumption...The dough ended up being too soft and gooey. But I let C press the cookie cutter into the dough to make the butterfly shapes. Then it took both C’s momma and me, working very quickly, to get the dough off the board and onto the cookie sheet…reshaping a little along the way. We eagerly watched through the oven door window as the dough rose, and rose, and rose until the entire cookie sheet was a big blob of vaguely shaped butterflies all mushed together.

After they cooled a bit we creatively cut them apart and placed them on a plate where a very excited C got to decorate them. Grammie coated them with a gooey canned frosting and C got to add all the sprinkles...well, what was left of them after she discovered how to sneak a few when we were preoccupied.

We let them sit awhile for the frosting to harden a bit, then we all got to have one…but C had to choose for us. She chose hers first, which is appropriate for a 2-yr-old, and she was adamant about taking one home to Daddy. We gingerly placed Daddy’s in a plastic bag to endure the train ride home to Chicago, and I never did ask how it survived. But more importantly, C discovered that Butterfly cookies are much better when you’ve cut them out and decorated them yourself!