I have to say, when I read that Lori was contemplating making a gingerbread house, I was grimacing inwardly at the thought of spearheading such a project myself. My patience is limited. Very limited. No one will ever confuse me with the tv commercial mom who just has So. Much. Fun. baking with her kids, the Pillsubury doughboy looking on in admiration. Or the mom who laughs and brings out the Bounty paper towels after her kid spills milk All. Over. The Floor, and they have such a fun time wiping it up together. I’m more like the mom from the old Calgon commercials — “Calgon, take me away!”

However, I never fail to get sucked in by the nostalgia of it all, and I try to let the kids help me with baking, and then when they start fighting about how so-and-so got to add more flour and how cruel and unfair it is, I remember. Hopefully, next week when I attempt my own doomed family baking projects (not a gingerbread house, mind you–I’m not that lofty), I will remember Lori and her bravery in the face of such daunting odds, and her determination to persevere in spite of your “scrooginess.” Maybe I’ll somehow manage to keep my own scrooginess on the inside where it belongs!