The holiday season is in full swing here at the Hauck's nest...as evidenced by the twinkling lights, three stockings hung with care, and of course our tiny elf! And yes, I already broke out the holiday wardrobe. I can't help myself.
Growing up, we always marked the start of the holiday season with our advent angel. (Advent is technically the relgious term for the four weeks leading up to Christmas - but I feel this fun tradition can apply to all). It was this white angel that hung on our basement door and had a numbered pocket for each day leading up to Christmas. The pocket always held a hershey kiss. I think some years being able to eat the kiss was tied to our behavior or something...but who are we kidding - Stacy and I were always angels :) This tradition even continued into college. My mom would either send me an advent calendar or we would get one together when I was home at Thanksgiving. Trader Joes was my go to store for an advent calendar because theirs always had a little piece of chocolate behind the "door" you opened. With each day that passed - I would open the little door, marking one day closer to Christmas break and of course, the actual holiday itself.
You probably can guess where this is going...of course, Max had to have an advent calendar! For weeks leading up to December 1, I agonized over what type of Advent calendar to make or even purchase for Max. Pinterest has really upped the anty so to speak when it comes to anything handmade...but the number of "pins" I saw for Advent calendars was ridiculous! From felt trees with an ornament for each day, to a wrapped book for every day (I was really digging this idea) and literally everything in between... I also loved the idea of the type of calendar where there is an activity associated with each day (i.e. make hot chocolate, go caroling etc.) but since Max is only going to be seven months this December it seemed a better idea for a different year.
I was pretty sure I wanted to make the Advent calendar...but then - lets be real, unless three hours suddenly gets added to each day - I wasn't going to have time for that. Then, I thought about what Max really loves right now...which is pretty much any kind of paper that he can smoosh, crinkle, and generally tear to shreds. So - I did turn to pinterest to see what my options were. With a few clicks, I had printed off some numbered strips with intentions of making them into a paper chain.
I had a few moments this morning (while our Christmas angel took a glorious two hour nap) to assemble the whole thing. I could not wait until he woke up to show him what Mama created! It was pretty much love at first sight. :) I gave it to him just to look at - and of course, he ripped it in three pieces pretty much the moment he saw it. I call that - love at first sight :)
(He was looking at me like, "I can have this? Really?)
The above photo is blurry because well, he could not contain his excitment. He was flapping his arms and the legs were going and it was pretty much the cutest thing ever.
In conclusion - I feel pretty great about choosing the perfect advent calendar for Max. We can rip the paper together every morning...bringing us one day closer to Christmas :) And, as I told Rob - it was sort of a relief to let go of the pressure to create some sort of masterpiece this year. Afterall, it's just a countdown calendar - the real gift is all of us being together.
xoxo
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