First things first… after I wrote yesterday’s post about our, ahem, rocky Boxing Day, I picked up my book and this was on the first page I read:
“Having a mother helps you speak without thinking. It allows you to trust in your most awful self, to yell and scream and cry, knowing that your mother will still love you by the end of it. In her teens, Phoebe was regularly astonished by how awful her friends were to their mothers, and their mothers just took it, because the mothers knew that sometimes they were awful, too. The mothers had made their own mistakes.”
Well.
And what’s that I used to mark the passage? Oh! It’s a book dart from my “Books are Magic” advent calendar!
This advent calendar was so cute! Full disclosure: I’m not quite to the end of it. I kept forgetting to open doors, and I’m only up to Day 23. I was going to open the last three today just to finish it for this post, but I couldn’t bear to see it end. If there’s anything mind blowing in the last three days, I’ll share it in a later post.
In the beginning I wasn’t really sure how I felt about it- there were a lot of things that were fun, but seemed kind of, well, useless. But overall, I think I will use most things. I love this ornament:
…and this bookmark.
The “to and from” stickers actually got used on Christmas Eve- my husband was wrapping gifts and realized we had run out of labels. Advent calendar stickers to the rescue!
Overall I was happy with this calendar. I can’t remember the last time (if ever?) I got an advent calendar for myself, but I want to get another one next year. (Not the same one, obviously- I’ll be open to suggestions!)
The cat advent calendar from Target was kind of “meh” for me. Maybe I’m just getting old, but it was hard to find the correct door to open- I was constantly squinting at the calendar grumbling “Where’s fifteen???” Then, when you did open the door, you had to cut open another plastic window to get the treats out (as opposed to the Trader Joe’s calendar I’ve used in the past, where you just took the treats out of their compartment, already in a little package.)
On the plus side, there were a variety of treats and the cats loved them all. But they love all treats, so that’s not really saying anything. Next year I’ll probably go back to the Trader Joe’s cat advent calendar, if I can find it in stock.
Did you do an advent calendar this year? Do you ever do one?
14 Responses
I haven’t done an advent calendar in a few years, but they are fun! A few years ago I did an artisan gingerbread one with my daughter, but tbh it was too much gingerbread! I think next time we do it we’d stick to traditional chocolate.
And no I can’t read those numbers either haha!
Yes, I think that can be a problem- one year our friends did a jam advent calendar and it was way too much jam for them so they gave some to us! I guess you can’t go wrong with chocolate!
I have never done an advent calendar as an adult! Per tradition my boys have always gotten the pretty basic chocolate ones. Nothing fancy but they have never complained (probably because they don’t really know any other ones exist, lol?!) and seem to like them. I like the idea of one but also do so many other things during the holidays that I guess I don’t feel a burning desire to add something else. Ha. I agree that ornament and bookmark are really cute!!
Yes, I did get too busy to remember to open it every day- but that’s okay, I still have some doors to open! I’ll finish it on New Year’s Eve.
These are cute! I love Advent Calendars but haven’t bought one for myself (even though I think about it every year!). This year we got a Reese’s Pieces calendar for my kid and then I also got her a 12 days of beauty advent calendar that was kind of meh.
Wow. That quote about mothers… A good reminder, especially at this stage of mothering. Thanks for sharing it.
When my daughter was younger we did a couple different fun calandars- I think one was from Claire’s. I would do one now but she’s way more picky about her beauty supplies than she used to be!
That quote–Wow! Is it from _The Wedding People_? (I haven’t read it yet, but it’s on my list.)
Your advent calendar was cute, Jenny! I too would use most of those things or find it easy to find people who would appreciate them.
(We did an advent calendar for the first time this year… and never again, OMG. It became another thing I had to remind people to do.)
Yes, it’s from The Wedding People! The book is so good- I didn’t expect it to be this good.
That passage about mothers and daughters. Wow! What book is that from??
Last year we got a Lego advent calendar for the boys but the pieces were so dang small so it did not work well for the boys. So I skipped it this year. We have a little house-shaped advent calendar with drawers for the days. This year they each for 4 m&ms each. I looked at some other options but couldn’t find anything I really felt they would like that was worth the money!
Yes, It’s from The Wedding People! This book is so good!!!
We did the Lego advent calendars many times- but I agree it’s for kids a little older than your boys. In a couple years you could try it again.
I am glad you are liking The Wedding people! That was my favorite read of 2024 but I don’t remember that passage!
Yes we will try the Lego calendar in a few more years when we have more advanced legoers!!
My kids have advent calendars every year and love them. I think they’re a very fun idea, but I don’t usually buy one for myself. I love the book advent calendar and it looks like you’ve already been able to put some of the items to good use which is a win-win.
Too bad about the cat calendar 🙁 Extra packaging is both so wasteful…and downright annoying.
Yeah, the cat one is annoying! The cats would disagree though- they loved it.
I have an Advent calendar with little wooden ornaments in it that I’ve had since I was a kid, so at least 25 years. Some of the ornaments are falling apart but I still hang them up on their own little tree every year! And my dog gets the Trader Joe’s Advent calendar, which she loves because treats!