Not Christmas, that's for sure. No Christmas here. Even outside, we've lost the little snow we got before Thanksgiving. Back to the "cured stockpiled forage wonderland" that is our new home.
No Christmas inside either. Hubby has some rules about when someone can decorate for Christmas. No early decorating! But usually he's fine with any day that has "Christmas" in its title.
But I need a bit more holiday in my house than that. So we compromise and we get to decorate a tree after my birthday (which is next Friday for all those of you (hi mom) who are planning to call and sing to me).
We always buy a real tree and Hubby insists on the Charlie Brown special. We had a "full" tree one year and I vowed never again. My ornaments laid ON it rather than hung FROM it. Give the CB special every time. Usually Hubby can negotiate a pretty good deal for those trees so we're all happy!
My presents are mostly purchased and stashed in a box marked "Laundry" in my sewing room. This is to hide them from the kiddos and also from the Hubby. But he found my box before we moved and said, "Why is this marked 'laundry'? This is too heavy to be laundry. You need to label this accurately or we won't be able to find anything. What's in here? Why would you label it laundry if it wasn't laundry? I better see what this really is. I bet it's my stuff!"
{sigh} That's what I get for marrying the world's most practical machinist. No "shell-game" present hiding from him! Well, if he wants to look in the Laundry box, he can spoil his Christmas and find out he's getting new monkey jammies, Legos, and a Magnadoodle...
The only thing we are doing early is Truth In The Tinsel, an Advent study for preschoolers. We're pretty big on Advent in our house and I've been looking for a way to teach and involve our small children. This wonderful ebook is a great way to do that. It is geared for 3-5 year olds, but any child can participate. There is a small craft project for each day that the child will make to hang on the tree. Some parents use a special small tree and others put them on the family tree. Also, for those who are not-crafty (or those of us who can't find their craft supplies this year) there are printable paper ornaments that are colored and cut out. Excellent for my 4, 3, and almost 2 year old kiddos this year. We can't wait to start!
***Disclaimer: Amanda at Truth In The Tinsel has no idea who I am. I just found her ebook yesterday and fell in love. Thought you might like to do it with your little (or big) people. It's the best $7.99 you'll spend this Advent season.
No decorating here till it's December - that's MY rule - my hubby and kids would have started after Rememberance day, probably. On the other hand, I'm very slow to take it all down, savouring it right up to the 6th of January (twelfth night).
ReplyDeleteI love the sound of your preschool advent programme - if I still had preschoolers, it's just the sort of thing I'd be doing. We have a quilted advent calendar with pockets - so with my teenagers, I sometimes do a chocolate each per day, and a bible verse from Luke to read out at dinner (when we're all together). For many years, I filled the pockets with the many many different pieces that build the nativity scene from Playmobil.