Wow! Christmas is sneaking up on me and I haven't finished sharing Christmas traditions yet. Oh my!
Here's one that I didn't start, Grandma did, but that my kids love!
12 Days of Christmas--
We have always done some kind of advent calendar with our girls. Some of them I made, some we purchased. Most advent calendars begin at the start of the month and provide an activity, Bible reading or treat for each day.
Well, years ago, my mom, Grandma Betty to my kids, decided to kick it up a knotch. One day a large package arrived in the mail. Inside, were 24 small packages (12 for each girl). They were instructed to open one a day for the 12 days preceeding Christmas. Each package was marked with the correct order in which they were to be opened. Talk about over the top! The girls went crazy! They loved getting to the end of each day and opening a present. And I must say, I took full advantage of the leverage it gave me as a mom. "If you don't behave, you won't be able to open your 12 days gift tonight."
Everything was going along quite well until my Uncle Dave and Aunt Liz arrived one Christmas and informed us that the "12 Days of Christmas" actually are the 12 days following Christmas. Who knew? I can assure you, that if Uncle Dave said it, it was true. (He's the smartest person I know--really).
I believe that was the beginning of the decline of the tradition. But, every year my kids still ask if they will be getting their 12 days gifts.
Christmas Mittens
You know how hard it is to find just the right gifts that fit into a Christmas stocking?
Well, I solved that problem. . . . . .
Christmas Mittens!--They are wider than a stocking and they hold way more!
Actually the 12 day gift idea was borrowed from
the DuBose kids'(cousins) Alaska Grandma. It ran out because as they got older, Dollar Store gifts didn't work anymore.
Posted by: G'ma Betty | December 19, 2008 at 08:12 PM
The 12 day gift idea was borrowed from the Alaskan grandma of the DuBose cousins. The real reason it ran out was that as the girls got older, gifts from the dollar store didn't seem enough (to G'ma Betty) and it was getting too expensive.
Posted by: G'ma Betty | December 19, 2008 at 08:20 PM
I LOVE THOSE MITTENS!!! You have been a blogging machine lately---me, not so much! I survived my party---(it was fun!)How was yours?
Posted by: kathleen | December 20, 2008 at 06:01 PM