Happy Holidays, Internet. I Cherish You.

Katie Katie Parsons is the creator of Mumbling Mommy and is a freelance writer, editor and communications specialist. She works from her home office on the east coast of Florida. Most often she writes about life in a combined family of five children and what it's like being a full time work-from-home parent. Feel free to pitch guest post ideas or just drop her a line at katie@mumblingmommy.com.

I jumped on board the Christmas cookie train on Saturday. Despite my hesitation to dig myself into a flour hole that would take a minimum of 12 – 14 to emerge from, I decided it was about time I threw my hat in the holiday baking ring. Every other mom/grandma/elf bakes cookies. I really should too.

Call it pregnancy nesting syndrome. Or a bite from the holiday bug. Or just plain crazy, but I decided to make no less than three different types of cookies to hand out to loved ones and service people in our neighborhood. My three-year-old daughter enthusiastically offered to help and then enthusiastically lost interest about twenty minutes in. She told me to call her when it was time to use the cookie cutters. Then after cutting out about four candy cane shapes, she told me to call her when it was time to decorate with the icing. Surprisingly, she was nowhere to be found when it was time to clean up.

A few of the gazillions of cutouts we decorated

Despite the day not being the ideal mother-daughter experience I had envisioned (unless you count the bonding with my unborn child — who may or may not be a daughter — who had no escape from my rousing renditions of “Last Christmas” and “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” high notes and all), I enjoyed myself. I reconnected with my inner Betty Crocker. I relieved stress by (over) kneading my cutout cookie dough. Most of all, I became incredibly grateful for the Internet.

It can be easy to take cyberspace for granted, but like everything else sacred in my life, I try to take a moment to appreciate my everyday loves around Christmastime. Below I have listed just a few of the items that I Googled on Saturday. Without the instant answers that I received via my laptop screen, my Christmas baking spirit would have been quickly lost and the cookies would have ceased to exist.

Merry Christmas, Internet. I love you.

Here is an incomplete list of baking-type things that I asked Google:

“How to sift flour without a sifter” (turns out a whisk can do the trick)

“How do I use a rolling pin if I don’t own a rolling pin?” (lots of suggestions here, but I went with a can of corn)

“What do I do if my cutout cookie dough is too tough to roll?” (add liquid slowly; I kept the milk carton nearby)

“If my unborn baby is more active when I sing ‘Jingle Bell Rock,” is it a girl/boy?” (no concrete answer here, but I was slightly over specific)

True stories from the front lines of parenting.

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