It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas . . . . or the solstice, or something :-)
Rob found this wooden Advent calendar on sale last year, because it needed a little repair work. Emma also has a chalkboard to count down the days till Christmas, and another wall hanging Advent calendar not in the picture. Also, she uses her white-board/chalkboard easel to count down as well. Regardless of which room she's in, she'll know how many days till Christmas!
This basket is where we collect Christmas cards, and the little gnome is hand-knitted, from paperdiva knits.
This is a fair-trade, hand-made, twig basket Rob got me a couple of years ago, and I asked Emma to arrange some pine branches and cones, along with a few gold balls. She did a really excellent job.
We have always celebrated St. Nicholas Day because it was one of the holidays from my mother's childhood in Germany. You put your shoe on a windowsill the evening of December 5th, and St. Nicholas fills it with goodies that you joyfully find in the morning. Emma's friends heard about this holiday and suddenly I had parents telling me their child wondered why St. Nick wasn't filling their shoes? :-) I was going to end that celebration this year, since our new Advent calendar has window space for small gifts, in addition to a piece of chocolate. Rob and I had decided that one small gift per week, maybe in Friday's window, would be nice.
Have you ever tried to un-institute a holiday celebration? These kids, they don't give up easy! We'll still be filling a child's size-5 shoe on the evening of the 5th. At least this year I don't have to fill the parental shoes, though. I think I can modify the holiday that much.
Do you celebrate any holidays that people in your area don't? Or tried to phase out something from your kids younger days?
Do you celebrate any holidays that people in your area don't? Or tried to phase out something from your kids younger days?
LOVE the gnome! We have several made by Sue, as well as some other goodies, and my entire household smiles every time we look at them.
ReplyDeleteAs for phasing out traditions, we're trying to decide when Santa will stop visiting our house. This might be the year, as we're giving the girls mostly just one big gift each this year, so that makes it harder to give gifts that are clearly from us and some that are from Santa.
I don't think I've ever tried to phase out a holiday. In the heavily Catholic city where I'm from, nobody had Advent calendars, but everybody had an Advent wreath. It has four candles: three purple and one pink and starting four weeks before Christmas, you light a candle--week one light one purple candle, week two, two purple candles, week three, two purples and the pink, until all four are lit on the last Sunday before Christmas. I loved that tradition as a child but haven't managed to duplicate it here, where the culture is more secular and I can't find a proper advent wreathe. I finally, just this year, got an Advent calendar together.
ReplyDeleteDyngus Day is a big deal where I grew up and nobody here has even heard of it.
We are certainly the only family on our block who celebrates Hanukkah. And we all go to visit my family and celebrate Christmas. We still hang our stockings by the chimney with care, and St Nick shows up and stuffs those stockings, so even as adults we do not want to do away with that tradition. It's one of my favorite parts of the gift giving. My Mom (soon turning 80) has always hung up her pantyhose, which looks really great when it has an orange and candy and little gifts all stuck up and down the stretched-out nylon.
ReplyDeleteDyngus Day?
Well, we're probably going to keep at St. Nicholas until my baby is too old to believe--what age will that be? Maybe 12? But we don't do advent treats.
ReplyDeleteEmma doesn't "believe" anymore --that happened last year. But she has made it quite clear that we still have to behave as if she did. So I still tell her that if she's not good, Santa won't visit :-)
ReplyDeleteI had a roommate in grad school who celebrated Hanukkah, and I found her celebration of it to be a very nice, peaceful, tradition.
Melissa, I think you're the only other person I've ever met who celebrates St. Nicholas Day. I didn't realize it was common up in your northern country :-)
Dyngus Day could certainly use some more explanation! Maybe a blog post?