Advent

A few weeks ago I made this Advent calendar at a workshop.

The little squares are pieces of card stock folded into envelopes. They have stamped images and various embellishments. I wrote one activity for each day and slipped them inside the envelopes. HE made the frame from pieces of siding left-over from our home building. It should last a good number of years.

I realized, though, as we began using it this year, that we've never had an "activity" Advent. We've always had Advent calendars, but they were the kind that you open up the little windows and look at the pictures inside.

Or the kind with chocolate inside.

Bad chocolate.

Since it was for the kids and not for me, it didn't bother me too much.

Except when they insisted on eating it first thing in the morning.

Oh well.

It was only once.

A day.

For an entire month!

Chocolate for breakfast--sorta like Nutella, right?

Anyhoo.... it seems fitting to focus on activities. Much of them are things we do anyway (maybe that's cheating) but I like that we are placing stronger emphasis on them. And it keeps it interesting.

'Course, my kids have a difficult time letting go of things and so we still have three other advent calendars in the house. Two of them are collectibles of sorts and one is a non-descript flat piece of cardboard with uninteresting pictures to look at.

I'm surprised I was able to get rid of the old chocolate ones.

"Oh, remember! That was the little chocolate shaped like a train! I loved eating that!"

Chocolate advents aren't really that interesting the second year.

Of course if you save some of the chocolate, that could be interesting.

In a sciencey kinda way.

It's mostly wax, though, so probably not all that interesting.....

Anyhoo, with four Advent calendars lurking around our place, it only takes about an hour to get through our morning Advent calendar-opening ritual.

But with a pre-teen who has discovered a few things about Christmas and a nine-year-old who has dutifully remained innocent, (not for long, I am thinking) .....I will hang on to the magic for as long as I can.