(A piece from the Hyperbolic Crochet Reef at the cultural center. And that’s not even the half of it. As a fledgling crocheter, I was impressed and inspired. The rest of my party was mostly just baffled or amused.)
I’m a sucker for the advent calendar. It is such a steady way to calm the pre-holiday nerves of every child and parent. Slowly peeling away the days until you arrive at the big one is a nice, gentle ritual and can serve to keep everyone focused on the true meaning of the holiday, whatever that may be for each of us, rather than social whirl and pressure from family,friends and work to be everywhere and do everything.
So, I’m here to hook you up advent wise, in case you wish to try it with your crew. Chances are everyone has their favorite advent rituals. We like to mix it up a little. In the past, we have used an advent candle which we picked up at the Swedish or German stores in the city. This was one of my favorites. Who could argue against light? We’d light it every night at dinner and it would burn for about an hour before it reached the next day’s number. The problem was that we were out so many nights in December that some nights we’d have to play catch up and let it burn for two or three hours. Someone tending to the flame to prevent fires in my opinion only adds to holiday stress so we skipped it this year.
A timeless advent tool coming to you from the wisdom of the ages is (also on of my faves) the online advent calendar! There are quite a few of them out there and it might take a few moments to find the one that truly reflects your families’ outlook on life.
Or you could make your own advent calendar. Last year, to help Mail get a grasp on the holiday we made the classic paper chain in red and green and strung it on the wall, removing a link every day.
In previous years, we have buckled in and bought the playmobil and Lego advents. Some are the nativity scene and some are more open-ended. They turned out to be a lot of fun and as a bonus most of their products are made in Germany and Denmark, places not known for injecting lead in to their toys. But read the label first. Might I add that some people think this cheapens the holiday. Still, if your kids are collectors, what is wrong with re-enacting the spirit of the holiday with small plastic figurines?
This year, I caved in to a long time request, and got the kids a chocolate advent form Germany. The clincher for me was that corn syrup wasn’t involved so I could relax and watch them consume a daily chocolate reminder of the joy that is yule. Provided they don’t sneak ahead and consume all of the days at once, hoping to time travel to the highlight through binge eating. This is what happened when Anoif was 3, so I’m still a bit leery.
There are probably dozens of advent calendars to explore yet. Please share your advent traditions and let me know what your decide on this year.
9 responses so far ↓
1 Andrea // Nov 30, 2007 at 11:51 am
Some of my friends are getting all craty and using tins, bags or boxes to make bigger advent containers with small-ish presents inside. This way, the gifting is spread out over the whole month, not just “one day”. (to us personally it’s a whole season, but I digress) And they are planning on a lower-key christmas day, so I guess it works for them. And they get to be all crafty.
2 christine // Nov 30, 2007 at 4:47 pm
One year when I was a kid my aunt brought me a chocolate Advent calendar from Germany. That chocolate did not make it past day two.
3 Kate // Nov 30, 2007 at 10:07 pm
It’s funny you mention these because I recently remembered they existed and was thinking back to when I used to have the calendars. I think the last one I ever had was one I made back in 7th or 8th grade. I did it for myself basically. I put cut out pictures of friends, family, pets, etc. behind every little door I made so I had something to look at for every day. I still have that sucker too! But we never really did them as a family tradition sort of thing. It was just something catholic school always threw at me so I haven’t really used them or thought about them much since I left catholic school. Weird…
4 Summer // Nov 30, 2007 at 11:25 pm
I keep going back and forth on this. I kind of like the idea of an advent calender, but I haven’t found one that I like and that we can afford. LOL I gues I should try making my own.
5 Creative Mom Cafe » Blog Archive » Make an Advent Calendar // Nov 30, 2007 at 11:46 pm
[...] last of the gift ideas I am going to suggest something a friend recently posted about on her site. Making your own advent calender. An advent calendar is a small calendar used to countdown the days until Christmas. It is a great [...]
6 Kimzyn // Dec 1, 2007 at 12:45 am
Summer did a trackback above and wrote about advent calendars on her creative mom website. One link she had which I can’t stop staring at is this one:
http://www.alphamom.com/buzzoff/2007/11/the_best_diy_advent_calendars.php
Which advent calendar would I like to make the most? I think the cookie sheet one is cool. But the matchbox one is gorgeous too.
7 Karen // Dec 1, 2007 at 10:38 am
While we have some simple open the door Advent calenders I think the Waldorf schools have some of the most beautiful advent rituals. The Advent garden spiral, done at night and lit with candles is magical. Even making your own small spiral on a table and having Mary and Joseph travel around it is very cool.They also have a nice verse to use while lighting your own advent wreath, and adding crystals and stones, plants, animal figures and then a human figure. Here are a couple of links,
http://faeriedust2001.blogspot.com/2005/11/time-for-advent.html
http://www.waldorfwithoutwalls.com/articles/advent
Lots more to be found on google. Tomorrow is the first Advent Sunday-yikes!
8 kim // Dec 2, 2007 at 10:00 am
Here’s a homeschooled advent!
http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/articles/120104.htm
9 dmf // Dec 5, 2007 at 5:54 pm
My mom is German so advent calendars are a big deal in our family. We did the chocolate kind every year when we were kids and now each of my kids get one. Another German tradition that is fun for the kids is the celebration of St. Nicholas day on December 6th. St. Nick leaves children chocolate candy in their shoes on the morning of December 6th.
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