I got the gang together (yes, it was chaotic immediately) and we decided to combine multiple gingerbread kits into one massive gingerbread MANSION. The plan was giving “big base, big dreams,” but the execution was giving “party from the front… avalanche in the back.” We tried to engineer a roof with pure vibes, a little fake math, and a lot of icing, and somehow ended up with a mansion that looked cute on camera and absolutely traumatic from behind. We even built lore: Baba Yetu the yeti queen lives there, and poor Sally… did not make it to the Christmas party. Then we switched to a timed mini-house competition where everyone got a secret advantage or disadvantage. One person got the holiday sprinkle tackle box (which turned into a full sprinkle incident), another had to use claws like a little crab, I got forced to build an entire chalet BLINDFOLDED, and someone else got a “sneak peek” advantage that honestly just gave anxiety. The takeaway is simple: gingerbread houses are way more intense than they look, our singular brain cells are strongest when combined, and sometimes the real gift is realizing the front can be cute while the back is… a metaphor.