Today is the 5th of December and I have not opened the first box. The "First" box doesn't contain meaningful first memorabilia inside. No special ornaments to commemorate our first Christmas together, or the celebration of a baby's first Christmas. Nope. It is marked first so that when December 1st sneaks up on me, I know which box to pull out of storage. I have time for the rest, but this one needs to be opened by November 30th. It contains the Advent Calendar.
Filled with memories of excitement and anticipation, the Calendar is showing signs of age. The edges are tattered. The stitching on pockets are torn. One of the treasures went missing 3 years ago. It's a Christmas tree with pockets. Each day, a gift is pulled from a pocket and hung on the tree. I think about replacing it every year. Somehow, in the busyness of the season, it has never happened. Many times I imagined designing my own calendar with a Nativity scene to count down the days. I envisioned making one for each of my children to reduce the bickering of whose turn it was to do the calendar.
We had a system for regulating the calendar. The rule was: the first one out of bed earned the privilege of changing the calendar. December is a brutal month with kids. Evenings are filled with choir concerts, plays, parties, and other holiday activities that make for late nights and early mornings. The calendar was a wonderful motivation to get them out of bed, and ready for school. More than once I heard Sarabeth bribing Hilary, "if you get up right now, I'll let you do the calendar."
Occasionally I'd hear tiny feet, tip-toeing down the hall in the wee hours of the morning. Later when I'd get out of bed, I'd find each of them fast asleep. The moment their eyes opened, the thrill of victory enticed them from their bed. But the haze of sleepiness would draw them back under the covers.
One Saturday I walked by the girls' bedroom. I saw Elisabeth lying in bed. I was surprised. Don't all kids bounce out of bed on the weekends?
"Do you feel okay?" I whispered, trying not to wake her sisters. Raising her head slightly off the pillow, leaning closer, she whispered back, "Yes, but I wanted to let Hilary do the calendar today. I can't get out of bed yet." Hilary's competitive nature wouldn't allow herself to be handed a win. It must be earned. She had to actually beat her siblings out of bed, or somehow the thrill of the calendar wasn't the same.
I'm not sure if it was Christina or Christopher, but one (or maybe both) enjoyed being a trickster. After their younger sisters would go to bed, they'd often sneak in and switch the calendar. They'd chuckle smugly upon hearing their sisters argue over who cheated the first one out of bed. I finally wised up and would make the calendar right each night, before heading to bed.
So many memories....
I don't want to put up the Advent Calendar this year. Visions of sugarplums dancing aren't the thoughts frolicking in my head. Instead, I envision the calendar on December 24 empty; looking as if I have many days to left to shop before Christmas. No one, little or big, lives here counting down the days with stars in their eyes.
Maybe it is time to pass the calendar on to Ethan. Or maybe it's time to throw it away.
Twenty more days until Christmas.
Hebrews 12:1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us
One Saturday I walked by the girls' bedroom. I saw Elisabeth lying in bed. I was surprised. Don't all kids bounce out of bed on the weekends?
"Do you feel okay?" I whispered, trying not to wake her sisters. Raising her head slightly off the pillow, leaning closer, she whispered back, "Yes, but I wanted to let Hilary do the calendar today. I can't get out of bed yet." Hilary's competitive nature wouldn't allow herself to be handed a win. It must be earned. She had to actually beat her siblings out of bed, or somehow the thrill of the calendar wasn't the same.
I'm not sure if it was Christina or Christopher, but one (or maybe both) enjoyed being a trickster. After their younger sisters would go to bed, they'd often sneak in and switch the calendar. They'd chuckle smugly upon hearing their sisters argue over who cheated the first one out of bed. I finally wised up and would make the calendar right each night, before heading to bed.
So many memories....
I don't want to put up the Advent Calendar this year. Visions of sugarplums dancing aren't the thoughts frolicking in my head. Instead, I envision the calendar on December 24 empty; looking as if I have many days to left to shop before Christmas. No one, little or big, lives here counting down the days with stars in their eyes.
Maybe it is time to pass the calendar on to Ethan. Or maybe it's time to throw it away.
Twenty more days until Christmas.
Hebrews 12:1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us
3 comments:
DON'T THROW IT AWAY!!! If no one else wants it, I'll have it! But give it to E first
Psst... The 8th is my birthday...
ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? you were going to give it away what are you thinking????? I was just thinking about how i cant wait to come home and stick the candy canes and presents on the tree. I can't believe you want to throw it away. I don't think we will bicker about it anymore mom.
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