Gingerbread House with 2 Year Old

All I have to say is thank goodness we got the pre-put together house because there is no way this guy would've sat longer than he already was. He was SO excited and I'm sure that made him a little more jittery than he normally may be!

Making a gingerbread house is a tradition that my mom always did with me and last year Lincoln was a little too young (watch the video above and you can see why!). This year, I was debating on if he was too young but decided 'why not' and we made it together while Layla was taking her morning nap.

After the initial, holy hell there's candy all within my reach and I must eat it all phase, he loved decorating it. We talked about patterns and putting similar candies together. He seemed to really get the concept of making it a fancy house for gingerbread man and roll with it. He taste-tested each type of candy. 

I braced for the aftermath but there really wasn't one to be honest. He was calm, not sugar-high and was so excited to share his masterpiece. As each family member arrived home, he wanted to show them his house (and then sneak a candy, too!).

​This is one of my favorite traditions and yes, even at 2, he did a great job! It's all about your expectations and setting realistic goals. The control freak in me got triggered each time he messed up my patterns, but I went into the project knowing it wouldn't be my normal "perfect" house.