Magic Marker Monday: Social Cookie Time

The holidays came and swamped me. The usual suspects aided and abetted the madness: holiday events, head colds, family birthdays close to major holidays, and attempts to simultaneously clean house / wrap and mail presents / send Christmas cards / and have appropriate thank yous for teachers. This year brought a few extras: IEP and special services fail hell, serious other family illnesses, jet lag from epic used car buying trip, and further reductions in household budget.

Lots of good things happened too, but I was more than ready for a change of pace and a chance to lie low after Christmas and New Year's. The kids, however, were wound up and still excited. James in particular was excited over Christmas, presents, and his sister's birthday. He's actually helping me plan his party for later this month, and he wanted play dates every day. Well, I found a dandy compromise between my desire to curl up with a book/computer under a blanket, listening to my music, and his to DO something and see his friends.

We made cookies and brought them to our family, friends, and neighbours. As always, we were greatly helped out by our dear friend, Trader Joe:

Source: instagram.com via Club Trader on Pinterest

We made a whole box for Christmas dinner with the family, and cleverly brought them in a cute decorative holiday house:

We skipped the sugar frosting, which was runny and messy. Instead, we put sprinkles and cake decoration toppings on some of the unbaked dough. We all agreed the results were simple and delicious. We bagged up many more batches of cookies for taking to our neighbours, and we dropped some more off with our friends.

So not only did James get the entertainment of helping mix up, decorate, and bake something fun, he also chose cookies to give to his friends and we had a good excuse to stop by James' friends' houses and say "Hi" during the vacation. No planning, no commitments, no pressure. At one house, we even enjoyed an impromptu play date. Best of all, James got to experience making something and giving to others, from mid-December through early January. Which is why I think I'll always be calling these Social Cookies in my head for years to come.


I see over at Michelle's that great minds think alike ;-) For more great masterpieces or to share some of your own, visit 5 Minutes for Special Needs for more Magic Marker Monday.