{"id":117,"date":"2011-12-01T13:17:00","date_gmt":"2011-12-01T13:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wordynerdy\/2011\/12\/welcoming-advent-or-the-necessity-of-cheap-chocolate\/"},"modified":"2011-12-01T13:17:00","modified_gmt":"2011-12-01T13:17:00","slug":"welcoming-advent-or-the-necessity-of-cheap-chocolate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wordynerdy\/2011\/12\/welcoming-advent-or-the-necessity-of-cheap-chocolate\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcoming Advent or the Necessity of Cheap Chocolate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so unfair, how come the Advent chocolate calendar doesn\u2019t start on the first day of Advent?\u201d one of my kids whined.\u00a0 \u201cAnd how come you\u2019re too cheap to buy the Whole Foods calendar instead of the Trader Joes one?\u201d<\/div>\n
\"\"\n
What I wish our Advent wreath looked like<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Advent, the season of waiting for the coming of God, officially began this past Sunday on November 27th<\/sup>.\u00a0 I\u2019m thrilled because this year\u2019s the longest Advent season possible with Christmas on a Sunday.\u00a0 But my kids had to go chocolate-less for 4 full days.<\/div>\n
Tonight they will finally rip the plastic wrapping off their Trader Joe\u2019s 99 cent \u201c24 Days until Christmas Advent Calendars\u201d (I truly am too cheap to pay $5.99 for Whole Foods) and eat cheap milk chocolate as part of our nightly Advent celebration.<\/div>\n
Much joy and elation will ensue I\u2019m sure.<\/div>\n
We started a nightly Advent celebration when our oldest kid was 2 because I love Christmas so much I wanted to enjoy and prolong the celebration.\u00a0\u00a0 I also wanted a way for us as a family to focus on worship and Jesus rather than on Santa and the materialistic frenzy that each December brings.\u00a0 Plus it gave me the excuse to buy pretty Christmas picture books.<\/div>\n
Over the past 13 or so years, not much has changed.\u00a0 Here\u2019s our basic tradition:\"\"<\/div>\n
    \n
  1. The Call:<\/strong>\u00a0After dinner, \u201cIt\u2019s time for Advent!\u201d \u00a0Gathering everyone was easier when we could plop kids from high chair to lap, or manhandle kids in pjs before bed.\u00a0 Now with teens we shout, I pound piano chords and they generally show up by verse 3 of . . .<\/li>\n
  2. \u201cO Come All Ye Faithful\u201d<\/strong>:\u00a0 We sing while someone lights the Advent candle.\u00a0 Our Advent wreath is a fake-pine flame-proof $1 wreath with 4 pine cones placed in between candles for decoration.\u00a0 If I could get my act together, I\u2019d buy the right liturgical candles\u20143 purple, 1 pink.\u00a0 This year, we\u2019re using leftover half-burned candles from last year\u20143 white and 1 purple.\u00a0 Clearly I didn\u2019t get my act together for at least 2 years in a row.<\/li>\n
  3. Christma\"\"s story<\/strong>: \u00a0Over the years we\u2019ve amassed many Christmas picture books.\u00a0 Family\u00a0favorites include\u00a0The Nativity<\/em>, by Julie Vivas,\u00a0The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey<\/em>, by Susan Wojciechowski, and of course How the Grinch Stole Christmas<\/em>, by Dr. Seuss.\u00a0 As our kids became readers, they fought about who reads. \u00a0We all especially enjoy acting out \u201cJonathan Toomey\u201d with each of us taking a different character.\u00a0 Every year I try to read without crying.\u00a0 Every year I fail.\u00a0 Every year my kids laugh at me.<\/li>\n
  4. More carols:\u00a0<\/strong>A friend used to insist that during Advent we should only sing Advent carols like \u201cO Come O Come Emmanuel\u201d (which is frankly the only Advent song anyone knows), but now he has kids and a wife who refuse to cooperate.\u00a0 In our family we sing anything from \u201cWhat Child is This\u201d to \u201cFriendly Beasts\u201d to even \u201cI\u2019m Dreaming of a White Christmas.\u201d<\/li>\n
  5. Cheap Trader Joe\u2019s December-only Advent chocolate<\/strong><\/li>\n
  6. Family Prayer<\/strong>:\u00a0 Our family prayer tradition involves everyone (either oldest to youngest, or youngest to oldest, or every now and then middle to chaos) saying \u201cThank you for _____,\u00a0 I\u2019m sorry for ____, Please _____.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s short, sweet, and even though we parents critique prayers now and then (\u201cPray something different than \u2018Thank you for having a good day, I\u2019m sorry for not being good, please help me have a good day tomorrow\u2019!\u201d), this is the only nightly spiritual discipline we carry over into the rest of the year.<\/li>\n
  7. \u201cHark the Herald Angels Sing\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0Someone blows out the candles while we sing.\u00a0 After 13 years, we still can\u2019t remember all the words to verses 2 and 3.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \"\"<\/div>\n
    Our Advent celebration takes anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes.\u00a0 Sometimes it\u00a0disintegrates at step 2 because kids brawl over who lights the candle and are sent to bed with no chocolate or prayers and the spirit of the Grinch rules the home. Other nights we sing carol after carol after carol.<\/div>\n
    This Advent, there\u2019ve been no fights about either lighting or blowing out the candle, which makes me a little sad because I think my kids have outgrown that magic.\u00a0 A couple squabbles about who got to read\u00a0The Grinch<\/em>\u00a0and who got to read\u00a0The Nativity<\/em>.<\/div>\n
    But frankly, with a 15, 13 and 11 year old, I\u2019m just happy they still want to worship, sing and pray together each night.\u00a0 I\u2019m grateful they haven\u2019t turned their teenage noses up at this silly tradition, or rolled their eyes at the picture book stories.\u00a0 Advent is my favorite family tradition of the entire year and I\u2019m praying it\u2019ll be one of their favorite childhood memories leading to a rich relationship with God.<\/div>\n
    Which is why I bribe them with cheap chocolate.<\/div>\n
    This was first posted on What She Said<\/i><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    \u201cIt\u2019s so unfair, how come the Advent chocolate calendar doesn\u2019t start on the first day of Advent?\u201d one of my kids whined.\u00a0 \u201cAnd how come you\u2019re too cheap to buy the Whole Foods calendar instead of the Trader Joes one?\u201d What I wish our Advent wreath looked like Advent, the season of waiting for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1263,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWelcoming Advent or the Necessity of Cheap Chocolate<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u201cIt\u2019s so unfair, how come the Advent chocolate calendar doesn\u2019t start on the first day of Advent?\u201d one of my kids whined.  \u201cAnd how come you\u2019re too\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" 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