Valentine's Cookies

I finally gave in to my children's holiday cookie pleadings. I am ashamed of myself, but I am really annoying when it comes to baking holiday cookies. We have had this huge box of cookie cutters in every shape that you can imagine since before I was married; a gift from my mother. The kids have always wanted to break them out, but I never let them because there are all kinds of nooks and crannies in the shapes and I don't want to clean them. And don't get me started on the frosting and sprinkles. This cookie bit is not a holiday tradition I have enjoyed at all over the years because it is such a lot of work. No more! This time, they mixed, they measured, they rolled, and they cut with anything they wanted -- not even holiday-related! They made as many frosting colors as they could dream up. And you know what? It was actually kind of fun, and the cleanup was just a normal messy cleanup. I hope I haven't stifled their creativity so much that there is no going back. I hope that the memories they have don't include me sneaking off to mix and roll and then call them one by one to cut out their allotment ("Cut them out close together! We don't want to reroll it more times than necessary!") Eeegads. I hope I have made up for this cookie thing in other ways.