Advent

I used to be mental about advent calendars when I was wee. Mum used to give me one for my birthday every year (along with a Bunty annual) and by day 3 I'd have peeked behind the big door with the 24 on it. I have no idea why I had to sneak a wee look - it was always a calendar with a nativity scene on it and so the door was ALWAYS a picture of the baby Jesus and his crew so I think it was a case of satisfying a perverse mixture of curiosity and confirming what I already knew.

Regardless, I will never forget the thrill of prising open the door whislt peering round the room and listening carefully to make sure my Mum was still in another part of the house. I have no idea what I thought she'd do - but still, the thrill and the fear were always so much more interesting emotions than the slump of disappointment after I'd done it and realised that for the following 20 odd days of December I'd always know that the big door hid the usual bleeding pictures.

So anyway, here we are - 1 December and Arlo got his first advent calendar this morning. I chose this one because all of the windows open up to reveal a little thingy that you can hang on the pop up tree. He was thrilled and interested and thoroughly confused, but he does seem to love it. After he hung up the little santa he looked at me and said 'I'm just gonna open this one now, okay Mummy?'. He wasn't overly chuffed when I told him he'd get to open another one tomorrow.

I wasn't sure he'd made much sense of it at all, but as I put him to bed tonight he called me back into his bedroom and whispered 'I open another door tomorrow Mummy'.

Yes you do, little boy.