Advent tageous

Dec 1st. Nora went out of her mind yesterday when she remembered about the Advent calendar's return. We bought this awesome advent calendar years ago. It's wood and has great little cubbies for god-know's-what. We fill it with pieces of candy, tiny little toys, and notes about special things that we are going to do that night. (like watching a specific Christmas special, going out in the car to look at the Christmas lights, making Christmas Cookies, etc.)  The kids get to open one every night after supper. For Nora, this is a blessing and a curse. The girl is under incredible temptation... Honestly, she can barely contain herself. She isn't allowed to peek. It is good practice for the bigger deal of hiding presents in the house and having them remain secret.

I always knew where my parents hid the presents... in their closet. Honestly, I never peaked. They made it completely clear that peaking would ruin Christmas morning, and I was all about surprises on Christmas morning. I told Henry and Nora the same. They know where the presents are...most of them anyway. If they want to sneak and peak, they can. They don't though. I know they love the surprises as much as I did, and still do.

This little advent calendar is great practice for both of them. Henry is fine with waiting. Nora.... walks up and strokes the side of the house... opens the door that they already opened tonight...finds the next number ahead of time... wrings her hands and jumps. She went to bed tonight with another warning not to peak. She wailed, "I won't remember! I can't remember anything" Jenny translated for me. "Nora doesn't think she has the willpower to withstand the temptation."

Poor girl :)

db