What if we were honest with Gingerbread families?
At closing on their new homes, the walk-through, we told them exactly what will be happening to their family and their new home. The judgment, the demolition, and the devouring to come.
Disclosure Statements in Gingerbread Real Estate
Imagine the gingerbread mother and father signing the papers to purchase a beautiful sugar and flour estate.
Constructed by a reputable baker. This four-bedroom, three-bath, two-story is in a great location…a frosted yard for the kids to play in. Gumdrop shrubbery…a fence of chocolate logs…desirable gingerbread school district.
But shouldn’t they know the truth about the neighborhood? Once it’s been appraised, the home could end up the winner of a contest, earn a big blue ribbon. A few pictures snapped (pun intended) …and then family and domicile get tossed into a dumpster.
Or perhaps the gingerbread creation is pieced together by human parents and children as a fun crafting project. In this case, the gingerbread family meets a much worse fate. There’s a good chance the gingerbread dwelling gets dismantled by sticky fingers and consumed. Gingerbread guardians watch as their cookie children get delimbed by powerful, giant teeth.
Even if the Gingerbread construct survives for a few days, the first hot day and those gingerbread rafters and sugar shingles will dissolve like Christmas tissue paper. And the frosting used to hold the walls in place will likely attract ants.
Also, the house is kind of made out of the same stuff as the gingerbread man. Hope that doesn’t give them pause.
Would you want to live in a house made of skin? Would you feel cozy? It sounds like a great Netflix docudrama, but not a terrific real estate investment.
That’s The Way The Cookie Crumbles
Eleven months out of the year, many of us espouse the old adage “that’s the way the cookie crumbles.” Never let that be the prevailing wisdom in December.
There are other months to let people “suffer the consequences” and “reap what they sow.” In December, make “that’s the way the cookie crumbles” mean something different. It means when the cookie crumbles, something better is revealed or a better tomorrow is immediately baked up or created.
Around the holidays, you may feel you’re the gingerbread being. A cookie-cutter person turning the key on a house scheduled for demolition.
You may be missing the magic this holiday. But remember, that the holidays and Christmas aren’t actually magical. These random days each year delight and amaze because there are folks who work very hard to make them special.
Be one of those people. Do what you have to do to make your holidays and other people’s holidays a bit more joyful and memorable. This is your weapon against the holiday blues. Fight for it. Call out into the void, and whoever ends up around your Christmas tree, consider them your mission, your assignments.
There will be other months perfect for feeling down, feeding your narcissism, and passing judgment. December is the break we call get from those defeating thoughts.
And when you think about nailing an eviction notice to that gingerbread door, consider giving the tiny cookie family a few extra weeks to find a shortbread condo or a bundt split-level.
Overheard on a Mountaintop 