December means lots of things, and for many families, it’s advent calendar season!

Do you have an advent calendar? If you’re not familiar with the concept, it’s basically a way to “count down” until Christmas, with some kind of daily ritual- maybe you’re opening up a gift, lifting up a flap to read something, eating a piece of chocolate, hanging up an ornament, etc - it’s a daily activity that takes you right up to Christmas.

I think we’re all familiar with chocolate advent calendars, but I didn’t realize just how many calendars there are out there! I was following a discussion on Instagram, and it was cool to see how many different variations there are!

Legos, crafts, jams, chocolates, nail polish, beauty supplies, candles, Harry Potter candies, nativities, cocoa flavors, bath bombs, Play-doh, socks, candles, intimate activities- I mean, pretty much anything you can think of there is probably an advent calendar for!

Some people just do a chocolate advent, or combine it with one fun toy calendar, like Legos or crafts. Some people do a Nativity calendar and a more Santa/reindeer fun type calendar. I even heard someone say that with everyone in their family they have about 40-50 advents going in December! That blows my mind!

I realized, we all do things a little differently, and I think it’s important to recognize what brings you joy. For some people, an advent spreads the excitement of Christmas through the whole season, and I could see why some of these advents would be attractive to particular people! Not every store-bought advent will appeal to everyone, but there’s definitely an advent out there for everyone!

But we also shouldn’t feel obligated to get into the whole advent calendar thing if it’s not something that brings us joy. Having even 15 advents going sounds too stressful for me!

However, we always do a homemade advent. I like to plan certain activities through December, and several years ago my mother-in-law gifted me a beautiful large Santa poster, with pockets for each day of December. We’ve adapted that into our homemade advent. Everyday, the kids get to pull out a slip of paper and it tells them what fun activity is planned for the day! Sometimes it’s simple, like an easy craft from Hobby Lobby or cutting out paper snowflakes. Sometimes it’s food related, like a hot cocoa bar or eating red and green food all day. And sometimes it’s bigger activities, like visiting a local Christmas attraction or attending a party.

It requires a little work and planning, but it’s something that brings me joy! It’s one of my favorite traditions in December. In fact, even though we don’t have our Santa chart here in our RV, last year we did a paper chain to carry on the tradition, and I’ll be doing something similar this year!

But again, I realize it’s not something for everyone. And that’s the joy and beauty of all these varieties of advents! There’s something for everyone- it’s just recognizing what’s too stressful and what actually brings you joy. I think if it’s something that makes you happy and gets you into the spirit of the season, than it’s absolutely worth it! If it’s something that just causes more stress and is one more to-do list item, maybe it’s time to re-think the calendar.

I’d love to hear about your experiences with advent calendars! Are there any that you do religiously every year? Have you dabbled with different ones, and if so, which were your favorite? I’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments below!

    Camille Hoffmann
    Monthly Newsletter Contributor since 2014
    Email the author! camille@dvo.com