Advent

So I ran out at lunchtime yesterday and bought presents for Penny and a Santa present for Alex and stocking stuffers for the kids. And I remembered the niece that Matt and I haven't met yet and got some things for her, too.

And I got some candy and magnets and stickers for the advent calendar. I have an advent calendar that's a series of little boxes. I bought it several years ago from Starbuck's, when it had chocolate truffles in the boxes, but now I just refill them each year. The fronts of the boxes have the numbers and little Christmas-y pictures on them, but after you open each, you turn it around to show a partial painting on the back. When it's all done, they make a pretty scene.

Of course, that's only one of my advent calendars. I sort of collect the things, when I find ones that are especially fun or pretty.

One is a wooden puzzle that eventually builds into a Christmas tree. I gave it to my mom back when I was in college -- and almost immediately regretted not buying one for myself, even though I couldn't afford it at the time. A couple of years ago, Mom gave it back to me, saying that Penny and I would enjoy it more than she would. That one and the candy one are the ones I use every single year: we put a piece on the puzzle every morning, and get a candy out of a box every evening.

I have another wooden one that I bought at a craft fair that's a tall skinny Santa with a row penny nails down his front; each day you hang a little wooden heart on the next nail. That one's not up this year because we're missing one of the hearts. It may be gone forever; I should probably just ask my dad or someone else handy to make me a new one.

I have a cloth door-hanger calendar that I keep on my door at work; it's got a series of pockets and a cloth candy cane on a ribbon that you move from pocket to pocket. In other years, I've put peppermint sticks or real candy canes in the pockets and eaten one each day, but I'm trying to be good this year, and once I start eating peppermint, it's hard to stop.

There's one with a series of tiny little books -- put together, the books form a Muppet variation on O. Henry's "Gift of the Magi." (I summarized the story for Penny the other day, as we were getting everything out of storage, and got all choked up. Maybe, if I remember, we'll catch up and make that calendar part of our evening routine.)

And there are a couple of standard paper-door advent calendars lying around, too.

Anyway I loaded up the candy calendar while I was making dinner last night, and had Penny open the first box after dinner. I'd loaded it with one piece of candy each for Penny and Alex, but it's possible that Alex is not ready for the advent calendar notion, because he pitched a wobbly when I wouldn't give him more candy or let him play with the calendar boxes. We'll see how it goes, I guess, but if he doesn't get the hang of it after a few days, then maybe Matt and I will be splitting his share of candy.

Oh, darn.