A tradition begins
When my daughters were little, we always celebrated holidays with extras. Extra decorations, extra books, extra festivities, extra sweets! (We were "extra" before it was even a thing) Inevitably, the sweets involved baking cookies, and sugar cookies were our go-to. It wasn't really that we loved sugar cookies, although my youngest might disagree, but rather that I could roll out the dough, and we could use shaped cutters to create small wonders of delight.
The process
Because we made cookies so often and because I was teaching full-time while raising my girls, I went the convenient route and purchased premade cookie dough and tubs of white icing. We would roll out the dough on wax paper and then take turns using the holiday-themed cutters. I would place them on a cookie sheet for 11-13 minutes at 350 degrees, and voile, we had personal little canvases for decorating.
Fancy, not fancy
My oldest daughter loves frosting, so this was always her favorite part. Because we made cookies so often and because I was teaching full-time while raising my girls, I went the convenient route and purchased premade cookie dough and tubs of white icing. I would create little color palettes that matched the given holiday using small bowls and food coloring. We would deftly smooth the colored frosting onto each cookie with plastic knives in hand. It was colorful but not very fancy until...the secret. When you decorate sugar cookies, you need sugars and sprinkles! Lots of them because this is where you become fancy (or festive or fun). And if you want to kick it up a notch, purchase matching paper plates and napkins to serve them. Fancy!
A new tradition begins
My sugar cookie tradition began while I was a little girl when my brother and I would bake them with my mom. As I recall, we only made them once a year at Christmas. I loved it, so we continued the tradition when my girls were little, but for almost every holiday. Now that I have a grandson, I have added a twist to our tradition. I buy a new book (or several) to read before or after making our cookies. Pulling books into our tradition has enhanced the experience. One, I love children's literature, and two, I know the value of reading to littles. Hopefully, the love of literacy you instill in your children will create lifelong readers.
The importance of making memories
Life gets so busy, and it's often hard to slow down and enjoy the little things. But those little things... are your children, your grandchildren, and maybe even your great-grandchildren. They are precious, and they grow ever so quickly. Trust me when I say you will blink, and they are grown. So this is all the more reason to begin making memories now and creating traditions that may carry on well beyond your lifetime. I hope you're inspired to spend a bit of time creating some new memories with your loved ones. You're welcome to celebrate with our family cookie tradition, and be sure to pull in a book or two. I have affectionately named it "Cookies and Cuddles."