Advent

I'd been looking forward to Advent so much this year, and it hasn't disappointed. Why so much fun this time round? 'Cause Brie's old enough to enjoy our Christmas preparations.

Much like Emily, I've been trying to do one Advent-y thing a day, all December. We've made it most days, and I think for all the days we've skipped, there's been another day when we've done two things. My favorite so far was making snowflakes out of craft foam and hanging them up. Someone actually asked whether or not we made them (!) so I think I'm not mistaken in thinking they look pretty good.

Yesterday, in a bloggityville-inspired trip, I took the kids off to the Dollar Store, and let Brie chose a present for all the folks we'll see on Christmas. I didn't expect her to keep a list of the ten or so people in her head, so we just walked down the aisles one by one and every few feet I asked, "So what should we get for X?" and she'd point and say, "THAT" and I'd obediently put it inthe cart.

Well, mostly obediently. I admit to persuading her that Anna didn't really want laundry detergeant, and that Poppy could do without a Strawberry Shortcake coloring book. But the humor of it was part of the point, so some of y'all are going to get some doozies on Christmas Eve or Day, depending on when we see you.

But, the really cool thing is, when we got home, she remembered WHICH bizarre gift was for which receipient. So it worked! Because the whole point was to concretely introduce her to the idea of giving to others (which is why we didn't get Brie-picked gifts for you out-of-state folks reading. Not less love, just less object-lesson for da girl, since the last half of this is going to be her actually HANDING OVER the loot). Anyway, I recommend it for the others of you out there with toddlers. It's a hoot, and it's a fun way to introduce the other side of gift-getting to your kid.

And it keeps it affordable, too. ;)

-Jess