Wednesday, November 30, 2011

December First

It was the center of Christmas tradition in my childhood home.
All four of us kids would rotate placing ornaments on the tree and eating the miniature candy cane, but Karen always got to do "16 days until Christmas" since December 9th is her birthday. I don't remember a December without this felt calendar hanging on the stairwell wall, taunting me daily for 24 days until Christmas actually arrived.

November 1987--I was attending my first semester at BYU and working part-time for a clothing store named "Vanity."  I was a transfer employee and at the bottom of the totem pole, so I was scheduled to work until 6 pm Christmas Eve, then I could have a vacation until after New Year's.  I needed the job and I was eighteen, so I agreed to stay.  I remember calling my parents and telling them that they couldn't come get me until late Christmas Eve and how sad I was.

Sometime before December first I received a package in the mail:
. . . my very own felt Advent calendar, handmade with love by my mom.  Without my siblings around to fight, I got to place every ornament and eat every candy cane--it was a Christmas dream.  I had to stay in the dorms way past when everyone else was nestled snug in their own beds, and my Advent calendar was my only Christmas cheer--this time it not only counted down days until Christmas but it also marked the time until I got to go home.  The morning of December 24th was joyous for me because I knew at the end of my shift, I would see my dad and we would make the four-hour drive home for the holidays.  Finally.

Fast forward 25 Christmases--November 2011. A few days ago I unboxed my treasure, made sure all the pins were in place, then filled each pocket with a miniature cane.  Many of the sequins are missing now, and the #15 pocket has a stain.  The doll now occupies 22 days until Christmas (and has every year since 1990):  the day our teeny Heidi was born miniature and wrinkly and perfect.

All the Christmases this calendar has seen.  All the changes in my family--good and bad--and all the places we've lived.
Now my own kids argue over who gets to hang the ornaments, who gets to go first and who gets the coveted position of Christmas Eve.  I continued the tradition with Heidi and Tucker their first Christmases away from home--not as crafty as my mom, I ordered them their own felt calendars, lovingly filled the pockets with peppermint, and sent them away.

A week ago I dug out Tucker's calendar from last Christmas and mailed it to New York.

Christmas.  It's all about tradition.

 I love December.

Twenty-four more days.  And you can bet I'm counting.

Linking up to Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday.

Jenny Matlock

23 comments:

  1. Hi Jenny!! Merry Christmas! (I think you're the first person I've said that too this season!!) And I love your sentimental tradition! xo

    ReplyDelete
  2. We have a calendar that is very similar, with much the same types of memories attached. I really loved this sentimental post!

    =)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think this calendar is worldwide for Christmas! I still see different ones in the stores and am tempted to buy a new one! I love Christmas, Plain and simple! Great post!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Such a lovely tradition. On Monday I mailed two calendars to my wee grandsons on the other side of the continent.

    ReplyDelete
  5. ahhh!!! i have to get my santa tree out STAT! bought the chocolate advent calendars on monday:) can't wait to eat the kids' chocolate when we forget a day, hehe.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I loved that story from your past. Traditions are such a wonderful thing - they are the glue of the holidays and special times, that keep us all rooted together. LaMar and I just bought an advent calendar for our own home. I can't wait to use it starting tomorrow!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Now that's what I call Christmas decorations. Love this!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love that you still have this. Tradition is what Christmas is to me. THe ultimate glue.

    ReplyDelete
  9. So sweet. I used to love my mom's calender too. I need to find one of these for my kids to enjoy.

    ReplyDelete
  10. We totally had the same one growing up, how fun!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Such beautiful traditions..... loved reading your post.

    ReplyDelete
  12. What a delightful story and a family tradition to carry on down the generations.
    Happy A-T

    ReplyDelete
  13. I shed a tear or two on this one. Such memories....

    ReplyDelete
  14. Sweet! Tucker will be so happy to have a taste of home full of tradition! We have a simple chocolate calendar...but they do love tradition!

    ReplyDelete
  15. What wonderful calendars! I bet your son will love having his own this year.

    ReplyDelete
  16. That is so awesome.
    My aunt had something like that when I was a little girl. I was so envious of my cousins.

    So cute.

    ReplyDelete
  17. We have one of those calendars too. I made it when the kids were little from a kit. There are felt toys, an angel, ornament, etc. in the different pockets. They have Velcro on the back and can stick to the tree. Our three sons took turns putting the things on the tree each day and Santa went up on the 24th. I hung it up yesterday and our youngest (who is now 35) did the honors this morning. When his older brother arrives a few days before Christmas they'll have fun pretending to fight over the calendar, someone will hide Santa so the other one can't put it up, etc. It's a tradition. I love the way your mother sent you one and now you do the same thing. I probably won't ever do that because it took a while to sew all those things and I no longer see the kits in stores.

    ReplyDelete
  18. What a wonderful post! I agree wholeheartedly about traditions--they're like glue between generations! Anyway, wishing you & yours a happy Christmas.

    ReplyDelete
  19. well this gave me a lump in the throat and made me a little teary. This must count as one of the "if there is anything virtuous, lovely or of good report or praiseworthy" things...thank you Jen.

    ReplyDelete
  20. What a beautiful post about the importance of family traditions!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Oh Jen, this post just made me tear up.

    I've made the candy countdowns every year since my children were small. This year my daughter-in-law told me she didn't want to 'mess' with them for our Grandlittles. I have been just so sad over that.

    It's always wonderful to read about families keeping these traditions alive.

    This post really warmed my heart and also made me wish our daughter-in-law had a little bit of sentimentality in her heart!

    Thank you for a delightful link to the letter "D".

    A+

    ReplyDelete
  22. I love this :) I wish we had a tradition like yours but we have yet to teach Ellie about Christmas in our home. It's made more difficult by the fact that she's not growing up attending any church's. She knows christmas as a season where Santa Claus gives gifts to kids and that's about it. Maybe next year I'll put more thought about making a tradition and see where it takes us :)

    Btw, I'm so sorry for such a late comment. I'm working slowly through my backlog of blogs to read :)

    ReplyDelete