Decade-long project

When Alex was almost two, she asked our mom to make a gingerbread house with her in the summer. My mother said she was too young and it was the wrong season. When Alex was almost three, she asked to make a gingerbread house again, promising she was old enough now, and giving lots of proof, like that she could almost dress herself, she could spell gum, she could set the table. It wasn't the right season, and our mom said Alex was still too young. The summer Alex was almost four she asked our mom to make a gingerbread house with her after her birthday in the winter. I don't know if my mom was worn down or genuinely thought Alex was almost old enough, but she agreed. Alex was more excited about making a gingerbread house than she was about turning four.

Then it never happened.  Dani and I never made one. We didn't really care. It was totally Alex's thing. It was all she talked about. It was one of the things that made her saddest when our mom died. That she couldn't make the stupid gingerbread house with her.

The other night at dinner the four of us were talking about the best and worst parts of holidays and Josh mentioned how while he was guaranteed eight presents, it always bummed him out that his parents viewed a lot of wintery things as too Christmasy, and gave a gingerbread house as an example. Alex went fucking crazy when he said those two words - it was like a switch had been flipped. She stood up, stepped onto her chair, hopped off it, sat down, hopped up again, jumped up and down, sat, stood up again, then ran over to Josh and jumped into his lap before begging him to agree to make a gingerbread house with her.

"We can both have our gingerbread dreams come true!"

There was a lot of squealing. Josh told me later he worried Alex was going to damage his hearing from all her screaming when he said yes. I called him an old man. Good times, good times.

Tonight after work I went and got a gingerbread kit. I was all excited to show Alex, but when I got home Dani told me she didn't feel good and went to bed early. We went and stood in front of her bed looking at her, then Dani got a good idea. We took everything off Alex's dresser and propped up the kit on it. Tomorrow when Alex wakes up it's going to be the first thing she sees. Josh wrote her a note promising he'll get up Saturday morning to make the house with Alex. She is going to be so beyond happy.