We Heart Advent Calendars!
Our Alex is obsessed with numbers. And calendars. And any and all holidays. And counting down the days to any highly anticipated event. So you can imagine how he feels about December. It's a convergence of All His Favorite Things. As a result, we own and display a ridiculous number of advent calendars at our house. Let me show you what I mean....
The Original Advent Calendar
Mike's mom made this for Alex when he was a baby. It's an exact replica of the one her mother made for Mike and his sister Kathy when they were babies. Starting on the first of December, Alex heads straight for it as soon as he wakes up to pin another ornament on the tree. It's sweet and sentimental and I love that we have it; it ties Mike's childhood to Alex's and it's all any family could ever need.
But clearly we are not just any family.
In addition to the tradition advent wreath with the four candles, we also own a hodgepodge of handmade, store bought, candy containing, empty, tacky advent calendars. For your consideration, I submit the following:
Last Year's Starbucks Advent Calendar
Cheesy craft that Alex saw online and begged to make. It's magnet sheets covering a mini-muffin tin. He ripped the #5 off, and I didn't see the need to replace it. I think we've got Day 5 covered elsewhere.
We didn't even notice that this has been sitting on his desk in his room since last December until about a week ago.
store-bought version with chocolate behind the doors. So lame.
same as above.
Not for the parent with ADD; too easy to burn past the current day. I may or may not have taken this picture on Day 3.
Placemat. Not pictured: Identical countdown in the form of a floor puzzle.
Not so sure about this guy. Seems a tad unstable.
It's kind of out of control, but it is just SO Alex. Some people collect stamps, some people collect trains, Alex collects advent calendars. I love that he gets so into the Christmas season and that it's still such a time of magic for him. Enjoy, kiddo. Let your heart be light.
