One of my family’s favorite traditions is making graham cracker gingerbread houses. Over the years, it truly has become like a fine-tuned machine; we’ve learned all the tricks and it’s always the highlight of the kids’ season!

This year, we had one change- we did them WAY earlier than we normally do. Typically, we decorate gingerbread houses a few days before Christmas, once all the kids are out of school and it really feels like the holidays have begun!

But this year, my little nephew was diagnosed with cancer. It’s Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, which is typically pretty treatable, but still not something any parent wants to hear, and he’ll have to go through several weeks of chemo to combat the huge lump growing on the side of his neck. In preparation for his treatment, his parents asked which activities he absolutely wanted to do before starting- just in case he struggles with the treatment or is not able to go out due to being immuno-compromised. Without hesitation, he said “making gingerbread houses!” So of course, we made it happen!

We decided to do it the day after Thanksgiving, since all the kids would be off of school and it would be before right before chemotherapy started. It was actually a really fun way to spend the day after Thanksgiving, ringing in the Christmas festivities! The kids had a blast like they always do, and it was a fun way to go from Thanksgiving to Christmas :).

Here’s the other thing I loved. Normally, my mom makes several extra houses in case little kids’ houses break, or if some of the adult kids want to make some. It’s pretty hit and miss, usually. With babies, pregnancies, toddlers, etc it can be a little hectic and not all the adults have the time or energy to spend on their own little house in addition to helping the younger kids’ with theirs.

But this year was completely different. All of my adult siblings joined in. I haven’t had a chance to decorate a little graham cracker gingerbread house for years, but this year, I really just wanted to! My sweet husband snuggled our little 4 month old so I could decorate my house. My newly married younger brother and his wife were there, as well as my sister and her husband, my adult little sister and my 14 year old sister. Even my dad joined in! We literally had a table full of adults putting candy on their own little gingerbread houses. As the Christmas music was blasting and we were sitting there decorating and laughing at my younger brother’s jokes, I just was filled with so much love for my family. I’m the oldest of 10, and I don’t always get to spend time with all my siblings, and this was just a little moment amidst the happy chaos, but it made me so grateful for my family.

It’s cliche, but true- life is short! We can get so caught up in the day-to-day tasks, the never-ending things on our to-do list, and we don’t slow down to “decorate the gingerbread house”. But then we’re missing out on those sweet little moments that make life worth living! And I think sometimes we forget just how sweet those moments are and we take them for granted until we get those reminders through life’s hardships and tragedies (like cancer) that help us to prioritize and put the truly important things first.

This Christmas season, I hope you find time to slow down, soak in the little moments, and “decorate the gingerbread house”. It’s ok to let some things on your to-do list go. You can always come back to those things, but you can’t always go back to those precious little moments.

May your moments be slow and your hearts be full this holiday season!

    Camille Hoffmann
    Monthly Newsletter Contributor since 2014
    Email the author! camille@dvo.com