It was the 1st of December yesterday. It snowed here in Vienna and the snow lasted until the evening. Dirty, wet city snow nonetheless brought a lot of joy for the little ones. Like a little miracle – there was snow on the first day of winter.
Following the tradition, me and my husband hung an advents calendar at our home. I made this calendar a few years ago from a quickly gathered fabrics from my stash. I did not have a single cotton print with Christmas theme back then, so I picked traditional red/green color fabrics. I appliqued 24 numbers and made 24 different bags. That first year Christmas time was so busy, I managed to finish only half of the calendar by December 15. So we started with a shortened version the first year. Next year we had it complete.
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This year me and my husband put some little things for each other and for all of our three kids into the bags and hung the calendar on the wall in our living room. In the morning our one and a half year old son saw the calendar for the first time and instantly tried to pull the bags down. He was exited and we were happy.
Our five year old was all inpatient to cut the first bag open. He carefully examined each bag and guessed what could be inside. And yes, he guessed right, it was some sweets for everyone in the first bag. But he could not guess right, what was waiting for him in his bag tomorrow. And I was impatiently waiting to see his face when he opens the bag and to play with him that little table top game latter on.
Our youngest son, only six weeks old, keeps watching the colorful calendar on the white wall as he lies on the couch just next to it. He does not care about the content yet, but he finds it very interesting when his older brothers move the little bags around.
Over the years, 24 little bags I quickly made to decorate our white walls in a newly rented apartment and to cheer my oldest and the only at the time son, became a part of a Christmas tradition in our home. Together with the fresh snow, today it awoke the feeling of a mysterious miracle that can be felt only around Christmas time. With each bag opened, we come closer to the biggest celebration of the year!
Happy Christmas time everyone!
