Adventskalender

The Adventskalender I made for my son

This is what's inside all those packages...except for the scissors and tape, of course. ;)

These are the Adventskalenders my cousin made for her daughter (on top) and her husband made for her (on bottom). Since her husband travels so much, she made one for him with their pictures behind 24 little windows she made in the paper.

This is the Adventskalender my aunt made for my other cousin before she hung the gifts on.

Here it is with the gifts on.

Advent, for those who may not know, is the four weeks prior to Christmas during which Christians spiritually prepare for the coming of Jesus. It's also a time for counting down and waiting and anticipating. While I was growing up, my Grandmother (who was originally from Germany) used to get me Advent Calendars. They were pictures with little doors all over them. Each little door had a number from 1-24 or 1-25. I'd open a door each day to find a little picture and bible quote, and I did this every day until Christmas Day.

I recently was emailing my cousin and Aunt in Germany, and we were talking about Advent Calendars, and they were describing how they made Advent Calendars (Adventskalender in German) for their children and grandchildren. I thought it was so interesting and asked how they made them, and they described them to me.

They have a little trinket that they wrap and number and tie onto something. My cousin uses a garland as well as a piece of cloth with loops sewn onto it. Onto each loop a package is attached. there are 24 loops. My Aunt made these for my cousins when they were children, and still makes them for them. She surprised her son by hanging it in his house while he was out so that he could find it when he came home.

I thought that was such a nice custom, and I decided that we would start the same custom. So, I went to the Christmas Tree Shop, which I call the $2 instead of the $1 store because their things are slightly nicer and only slightly more expensive. I bought 24 gifts, the most expensive one costing $2. I also got a little garland to tie the gifts to. I wrapped the gifts, numbered the gifts, and put them onto the garland. It looked so nice. Then I had to figure out where to hang it. So, I found a blank wall and put up two nails to support the thing, and swagged the Adventskalander over the nails.

I was hoping my son would understand and like it. I put it up while he was at school, and told him when he got home that I had a surprise for him. I brought him over to see, and he looked and said, "Oooooooooo". I was so happy!

And he seems to understand that we can only open one gift every day, and he looks forward to it.
First we have dinner at the table, then I light a candle on the Advent Wreath and read a portion of the Christmas story from the Bible, then we sing happy birthday to baby Jesus, then we (well, I really) blow out the candle, and THEN it's time to open the day's gift.

The first day I got him gel clings that he had a lot of fun putting on the window and then ripping to pieces. The second day he devoured a candy cane. The third day he got a harmonica that I hope (along with blowing out the candles) will help him to learn to blow since he can't do that yet. Today he got a little froggy that lights up when you touch the two prongs on its bottom or when you put it into water. When he opened the present (which he did mostly by himself, which is a completely new skill), he said, "Ooooo a frog!" I could hardly believe it! This is wonderful stuff!

So we sang Five Green and Speckled Frogs and then dinnertime was over.

It was a nice night, and a nice new tradition.

Happy Advent!