Not Picture Perfect

Know how you see pictures on packaging that are supposed to be just the epitome of perfect?  Kids have the most fun using this toy, teeth have never been whiter when using this toothpaste, dinner out of a box looks like the food served at the best restaurant...you get the drift. 

This Christmas season, I thought Miss E. would be ready for making a gingerbread creation for the holidays.  I confess I am not one of those Grandmothers who bake and fuss in the kitchen too much.

I prefer getting a head-start with ingredients that are ready to go within a box.

 

 

This box - this picture-perfect-train-on-the-box - to be specific.  Even the candy canes are styled!

 

But why not a Christmas train for a girl who loves trains? 

(Even if the girl who loves trains had a sleepover and got stomach flu in the middle of the night.

with her first question in the morning being, "Can we go downstairs and make the train now?")

 

With leftover Halloween candy (thanks, Kari and Anne), a little odds 'n ends compartment box

was filled with various candies. 

 

 

 

Then the train was assembled with glue, not with the frosting as suggested in the directions that

came with the kit.  Not perfect frosting..oh dear.

 

 

She made her own, very own not-picture perfect rendition of the gingerbread train

.

 

When it was all assembled, perfection was certainly in her mindset!

 

 

 

So, with this Christmas season daily upon us, let's try to remember that it isn't about being perfect,

but rather our attempt to make the most out of what we are given.  It isn't about making our home look like a magazine spread, baking the most perfect-looking cookies or selecting the perfect gifts

for others. 

 The best we can give is a piece of ourselves, however imperfect that might be!