new beginning

it's the beginning of advent, and i have these for the kids:

i can hear the collective gasp - YOU GIVE CHOCOLATE CANDY TO KIDS?!  yep, i do, and here's why.

when i was a little girl - older than the kiddos, younger than the boy, my folks gave me a chocolate advent calendar.  i surmise they got it from a kid at church, as the high school german club used to sell them for fundraising.  i remember the anticipation of receiving that tiny piece of chocolate and the delight i felt eating it.  for years i wanted a chocolate calendar to tick off the days and weeks before christmas but alas, i never got one.

the boy was three when i got him his first chocolate advent calendar.  they sold them at country cupboard, and when we ate there for thanksgiving i'd pick one up for him.  like me, he devoured the tiny piece of chocolate and would beg me to give him another.  it was a good lesson in waiting!  last year we got so busy with school and home that sometimes days would go by before we'd remember to get our daily allotment of candy.  sad, huh?

this year i picked up these calendars at the hallmark store, when i bought my order of ornaments.  each of the kids gets one, as the kiddos love chocolate as much as their big brother.

i realize there are better ways to tick off the time until christmas - making a paper chain, wrapping up tiny presents, buying a ready made toy calendar.  i've seen patterns of knitted advent calendars, with tiny mittens, hats and sweaters.  but i use the candy ones, partially to remind me of a sweet memory of my childhood;  hopefully creating sweet memories for my own children to pass on to their children.