So, I will probably have to admit right out of the gate that an intentional December routine is something that I aspire to create in my home, NOT something that I have actually accomplished.
But as today is December 1st and I am just now trying to put together what our family will be doing this month.
It seems that “advent” has become a thing in these past few years. Not that I don’t like advent, but sometimes I tend to buck against things that have become things, you know? It’s like it was something intentional and simple and then it became very popular and now it’s something that has to be done to keep up with the Joneses. Although the very definition of advent (the arrival of a notable person, event, or thing) does not specifically lend itself to religious observation, I have always associated advent with the event of the birth of Jesus, and so sometimes I feel a little cringe inside when I hear of the many secular ways “advent” is applied around this season. I mean, even in this blog post I will write about a number of non-Christ related events and activities. I guess even I am still trying to work out what slow, intentional and simple means in this wild and crazy hustle and bustle time.
This blog post is to serve as a little bookmark for me. I also hope that it can give someone else ideas on how to manage the month of December in a home with tiny children, all the pressure to do all things, but a small budget and a big desire to keep it simple and focused on Christ. Some of these things we implement really well, and some of them…don’t ever happen. Ha.
The other day I had a slight moment of panic when I realized that I wasn’t sure my kids actually knew the story of the gospel. Sure, we talk about God and Jesus and the Bible all the time in our home. We go to church, we discuss the sermon, we memorize Bible verses. But have I actually told them the full gospel story? Did I miss that somewhere along the lines? Or did I tell one kid 2 years ago, and the other two weren’t even present for the conversation? The very next day, Tera comes out of the play room after rest time and she had made this:
So, apparently they are listening. And apparently, I am teaching them- even in the midst of the day to day chaos of life. And that is what I want the month of December and the season of advent to be like in my home. But also- when I asked her how she knew the story so well, she said that she learned it from a movie. SOOOOOOO, there is also that.
There are two things we try to do each day in the month of December. Ok, lets be completely real- it NEVER happens each day. But I plan for it to happen each day and if it doesn’t that is ok.
The first thing we do is our Christmas activity and the second thing we do is our family devotions. I love the idea of an advent calendar and counting down the days until Christmas, and I also love the idea of a special little treat in each pocket of the calendar.
Two Christmases ago, I bought this tree and the kids and I painted it. Do I think it looks ugly? Yes, I do. Do I love it anyways? Yes, yes I do.
Inside each box I place one simple daily activity (more on this in a minute), a treat for each kiddo, and our advent ornament for the day (that goes with our family devotions- also more on that in a minute).
Let’s talk activities- at the beginning of the month, I write the numbers 1-25 on a piece of paper. I then take a look at our calendar and write down anything that we already have scheduled- i.e. on the day that my kids have school Christmas parties, I write “celebrate with a class party!” Whoop. Done. If we are going to a church Christmas concert, I write “Go to a concert”. You get the picture. Basically, I am not going to do some out-of-the-house activity and then also try to do some fun holiday thing at home. Nope.
For each Sunday, I just write “Light our advent candle”. Our church did a wreath building service and the kids and I made our own advent wreath. I want to make that something special and consistent, so I also make sure to make that an activity.
So that covers Sundays and about 5-6 other random days of the month. I then look at my calendar again and figure out which days we will be completely wiped. I pick some SUPER easy daily activity for that- like watch a movie. Ha. Then I look at the days that we may be at home for a little longer- like when we are on break from school but Theo still has to work- and write down a more involved activity – like bake Christmas cookies. Again, this will not turn out perfect and there will be days that “should” be slow that end up being chaotic, and there will be days that we truly just don’t feel like doing an activity planned way beforehand. I know that going in, and that is why I hold this plan loosely. Here are some of the activities that we have on our list:
- Drive around to see Christmas lights
- Color some Christmas coloring pages
- Purchase and send a package to someone overseas
- Make a gift basket for someone we know who may be sad this holiday season
- Have a special Christmas Eve meal
- Light an advent candle (this one goes on all the Sundays)
- Make handprint crafts
- Bake Christmas cookies
- Bless the mailman
- Bless the garbage truck workers
- Sing in a concert
- Go to a concert or play
- Build gingerbread houses
- Drink hot chocolate with marshmallows
- Go for a winter hike
- Donate unused toys
- Take treats to the police and/or fire stations
- Go to Bass Pro Shops (they decorate and have a Santa)
- Drop off treats or cards to neighbors
- Put together our gifts for classmates/teachers
- Make paper snowflakes
- Make fudge
- Have a Christmas cookie decorating contest or taste test contest
- Play a game together
- Have a neighborhood progressive dinner
- Watch the sunrise and the sunset on the shortest day of the year
- Buy gifts for each other
- Wrap presents
- Make cards for classmates/teachers
- Build a blanket fort and read Christmas books inside
- Watch a Christmas movie (or a few in a row!)
- Make an ornament to hang on the tree
- Act out the advent story
Next, onto our family advent devotions time. I wrote a blog post last year with some of my favorite advent materials, and I realize that it is probably too late to order most of these, but there are some that can be bought in stores or on Amazon, or even borrowed from the library- even if you do start 2-3 days late!
Each year, we go through the Jesse Tree advent with the kids. Each day of December, we read a passage that features a different biblical story that leads up to Jesus’ birth. It basically goes through the entire story of Scripture and points to why we need Jesus and how He really is the hope and Savior of the world. Each scripture passage also has an ornament to go with it. We have also found that the Jesse Tree advent aligns almost perfectly with the Jesus Storybook Bible- reading one story a day starting on December 1st will lead right to the story of Jesus birth on December 25th, and each story will go along with one of the ornaments of the Jesse Tree advent.
Last year, we did the advent book “Shadow and Light” by Tsh Oxenrieder. I LOVED it, but it was a little over my kids head. We still did it the entire month, but this year I am going to let that one be and perhaps just do it by myself or with Theo.
Last year I also won an amazing advent study called “Hymns for Advent”. I love hymns and especially love the meaning of the hymns, and it is so fun to hear and learn a new hymn each day for the 4 weeks leading up to Christmas. This one doesn’t follow the “25” days leading to Christmas, but instead the four weeks of advent, which technically started this year on November 26.
My Mom also ordered the advent study from She Reads Truth, and I have been at their house once for the reading of that and can also highly recommend it (again, probably too late for this year- but maybe for next?).
Ok, I know that sounds really complicated and basically this whole blog post was just a very long-winded way of saying:
Each day in December, my kids open a drawer and find:
- An activity to do
- A Treat to Eat
- A Scripture passage to read and a corresponding ornament to hang on the tree
- We read the Scripture passage and hang the ornament during daily family devotions- we also sing a Christmas hymn
- We light our advent wreath candles on Sundays
What do you do to celebrate advent in your household?
Here are links to everything I wrote about in the post:
A few links to Jesse Tree Advent ornaments on Etsy:
So fun! Love your ideas 🙂