A Different Kind of Advents Calendar

Advent

Today is the first of December. That was a much anticipated day when I was a child. It meant the Christmas was tangible. It was close. Only 24 more days to go and I knew that from a very young age because that was the day when the advents calendar appeared out of nowhere.

Every child had one of their own. To tell you the truth, I don't know if everyone had one. My oldest brother is 10 years older than I and by the time I got my first advents calendar, he was probably already too grown up to want one.

At least the kind we had when I was little.

In case you don't know, let me explain what an Advents calendar is.

But first, I must tell you about Advent.

Advent is celebrated in many Christian Churches according to Wikipedia. It is a time to get ready to celebrate the birth of Christ. I know there are lots of different views about Christmas, the time of the birth of Christ and so forth.

But for our purpose, the Advents time is an important time in Germany. Baking of many kinds of traditional Christmas cookies gets underway. My mom made at least 60 different varieties which were stored in all kinds of tins on top of the wardrobes in my parents' bedroom - a place we were only allowed to enter with special permission. She probably figured it to be the safest place to protect the stash from being raided.

As children, we were busy making decorations such as straw stars and foil angles and also made presents for each other. Emphasis on make - not buy.

An Advents wreath was in the house. There are 4 candles on the wreath each representing one Sunday before Christmas. Four Sundays before the 24th, one candle is lit. Our family came together at dusk around the table and we sang Advents songs. They are different from Christmas songs.

Then we had my - to this day - favorite meal. Coffee and cake. Well, cookies. There was a big plate of assorted cookies and we all tried to get to our favorites fast. With five kids, you better are fast to snatch what you want.

The second Sunday, two candles were lit, then three, then four. Four candles lit meant Christmas was right around the corner. The 24th was the day when the locked up room was opened after dusk and after another coffee and cake with all four candles lit on the Advents wreath.

When we heard the Christ child ring the bell, we all marched to the room to be greeted by the magical Christmas tree, hand with sweets and life candles lit. Time to take it all in and to sing a bunch of Christmas songs.

The Advents Calendar

Now you understand that Advent is very much a time of anticipation and for children, it is hard to wait. The Advents calendar was probably invented by a parent getting tired to answer the question "How many days to Christmas?"
This is a guess. But I think a pretty good one.

When I was a child, the Advents calendar was a picture of a winter scene or a Christmas appropriate scene with 24 doors cut into it. It was glued to another piece of paper which had small pictures of toys, or candy or anything a kid might like.

The doors are numbered from 1 to 24. Starting on the first of December, one door, the one with the number 1 on it, is opened. Only 1 for every day.

I still remember how exciting it was to find the right number, peel open that little door and be so happy to see the picture. Oh, the good old days!!!

Later, the chocolate advents calendars hit the market. Oh joy!!! There was still a picture of an appropriate Christmas scene with 24 doors. But if you open those doors, there was a piece of chocolate shaped like a toy, or a bell or a candle. So delicious!! The mornings just got sweeter and the amount of willpower to open only one window needed to be stronger too.

Now, all kinds of Advent countdowns are popular, but that is for another story.

The one I want to show you today cracked me up!!

Last week, for the #marketfriday challenge by the sweet and lovely @dswigle I took you all to Costco. Check out what that store looks like by clicking here

Here is what I found

Yup, we have come a long way from chocolate and I have a strong feeling that this one is not meant for little kids!!

But you still have to look for the right number.

Can you see them?

And here are the instructions. Make sure to follow all of them!!

These shows you what to look forward to.

In case you have bad eyes like me, here are the beers a bit bigger.

So, are you ready for advent? What is your preference? Chocolate? Beer? A picture?

Tell me!!