Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat, and despite the fact that we haven’t even had
Thanksgiving yet, the truth is BEFORE Thanksgiving is the time to start prepping
for the Advent season. Especially since
this year it starts Sunday, December 1st, a couple of days after
Thanksgiving. With Thanksgiving and Black Friday I tend to forget about
preparing for Advent. Do yourself a favor this year sit down now and gather whatever it is you need to prepare your family for the greatest story of them all, the Christmas story! Don’t make it elaborate. Think simple.
Something you can do every day very easily! Something that won’t take you hours to put
together.
This is what my family does.
We read an Advent story book every night. This year it is Tabitha’s Travels**. This story is so good it really could be the only thing we do for Advent. It is full of suspense, wonder, action, and heart challenge. It has something for all ages. We light an Advent wreath at dinner and eat
by candle light. Then we take our fake
Advent candles to our bedrooms so we can read our story and fall asleep
by candle light.
We also do a sock calendar count down each morning. The boys take turns removing a sock from our garland. What the sock garland contains differs from year to year. Sometimes manger pieces, sometimes toys. It’s a mystery just like Christmas. If we have a busy day and miss a story we catch up the next night. No big deal. One other little thing we do to make Advent special is that we eat pomegranates only during Advent and the 12 days of Christmas. My boys probably get more excited about pomegranates than candy canes. It’s amazing what a little withholding does for their perception.
We also do a sock calendar count down each morning. The boys take turns removing a sock from our garland. What the sock garland contains differs from year to year. Sometimes manger pieces, sometimes toys. It’s a mystery just like Christmas. If we have a busy day and miss a story we catch up the next night. No big deal. One other little thing we do to make Advent special is that we eat pomegranates only during Advent and the 12 days of Christmas. My boys probably get more excited about pomegranates than candy canes. It’s amazing what a little withholding does for their perception.
Even this little amount that we do takes a wee bit of
prep. If I don’t get it done before
Thanksgiving I will be staying up late doing it afterwards, and that just doesn’t
work for me anymore. I take all the
Thanksgiving ads as a cue to start my Advent prep NOW! I keep it all in a labeled bin, and store it so I can get to it easily. Really, for me, getting it out is the hardest
part. After that I get inspired.
Happy Tales to you and yours this coming Advent season!
Kristen
ps. I'm not above begging. I'd love to have some comments from anyone, even your dogs. If you do anything special for Advent I'd love to hear about it. Please, please, please! It would help me feel like I'm not just posting to talk to myself.
**Note: I have three boys. I have found that our Advent time goes much better if I don't try to make them sit still and quiet while listening to the Advent story. We let them play Lego's or draw or something as long as it doesn't hype them up or disturb others. We have, in the past, taken ourselves too seriously, and let me just tell you, nothing good came of it. Don't make the same mistake.
ps. I'm not above begging. I'd love to have some comments from anyone, even your dogs. If you do anything special for Advent I'd love to hear about it. Please, please, please! It would help me feel like I'm not just posting to talk to myself.
**Note: I have three boys. I have found that our Advent time goes much better if I don't try to make them sit still and quiet while listening to the Advent story. We let them play Lego's or draw or something as long as it doesn't hype them up or disturb others. We have, in the past, taken ourselves too seriously, and let me just tell you, nothing good came of it. Don't make the same mistake.
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