How do you count down the days until Christmas?
On the Sunday after Thanksgiving, I would give SLE & ACE their ADVENT calendar... we would have begun decorating the house, the tree, and making lists of gifts to make or purchase, so ADVENT calendars became a part of our "Christmas tradition"... as a way to mark the time!!
SLE & ACE have left their calendars behind - YES, we saved them (there are over 50 calendars in the collection)... AND, I can't bear to get rid of them.
"Surprises from Santa" was ACE's calendar from 1993 (she was 13 years old)...
Ohhh... YES! I gave them ADVENT Calendars even when they were in COLLEGE!
Most of the girl's early calendars were made in Germany! The more recent calendars were purchased at Hallmark, World Market or Border's.
I didn't buy the kind with chocolate or the extravagant ones that had a little trinket or piece of candy! I tried to keep our holidays SIMPLE...
Advent calendars were developed by German Lutherans to count down the days from December 1st to Christmas Eve. It's believed that German families would count down the 24 days until Christmas by placing a mark on the door. The first handmade Advent calendar was made in 1851...
ACE's Advent "Christmas Customs from Around the World" explains around customs & flags from around the world. Today's window ~ GREECE ~ says "Children go from house to house singing carols & collecting small treats like nut cakes (Christpomo)."
Another "favorite" calendar (ACE's) had a different riddle each day!
"Why does Santa wear red mittens?"
(answer at the end of this post)
(answer at the end of this post)
When ACE was a preschooler, she would tear the windows off instead of leaving them to be opened & closed! This was her calendar when she was three years old! with the doors ripped off! We would tape the calendar to the window so they could see the picture clearer.
I HOPE YOU'LL SHARE YOUR FAVORITE HOLIDAY TRADITION....or POST A LINK TO YOUR BLOG TELLING ABOUT A HOLIDAY TRADITION!
the answer to the riddle:: Santa wears mittens, "to keep his hands warm".... oh. bad, bad riddle!
This is fabulous and how wonderful it is that you had the forsight to save the calendars in the years to come they will become even more precious. Great, great post.
ReplyDeleteIn answer to your question...the picture was taken in the entry, he is too big to fit in the kitchen window and Santa has a bakery set up there (see this coming Fridays post) this year. (-:
What a beautiful post, Chris. I was looking at your German Advent calendars somehow hoping to find the one we had as children... no such luck though. I like the "simple" ones best, those with the pictures behind the doors (no chocolate - btw, the chocolate is always cheap cheap cheap...). I like that you kept all the calendars!
ReplyDeleteAs an only child, I didn't have to share the joy of opening the Advent calendar doors (and never had a chocolate or trinket ones either). After a few years of trying to have my four kids share two count down calendars, we have four variations to rotate through this month to keep the peace and my sanity.
ReplyDeleteI instituted the handprint Christmas tree tradition for my immediate clan a few years ago. Yearly ornament presents are a tradition from my childhood and a few extra special ones are highlighted here: http://domesticscribbles.com/?p=5288
Happy Counting!