It is getting late and I am sick with a miserable sore throat, but tomorrow is December 1st so I have spent the evening  busily  making advent calendars for Sam, Mark and Cheryl. I have always had a tradition with my girls starting on December 1st that they  would each open a small gift every day leading up to Christmas. A few years ago, a very dear friend of mine who lives in Germany, made Sophia and Eva embroidered cloth calendars with little rings sewn on each day of the month. A gift is tied to each of the rings as is the tradition in Germany. They are absolutely adorable and such treasures. Setting them out every year marked the beginning of the Christmas season with all the excitement and anticipation that goes with it.   I wanted to continue this tradition my first Christmas married to Paul, but I did not want my stepchildren to feel left out. By chance, Paul happened to travel to Germany on business a few weeks before our first Christmas together. I asked him to look out for similar calendars for his kids but he only found cardboard ones. You couldn’t hang the gifts from them so instead I wrapped and numbered the presents and, bless their hearts, they were thrilled to open the gifts since this tradition was new to them. Still, Sophia’s and Eva’s calendars are so much more elegant and I have always felt conflicted about it. Call it stepmother guilt. I did not want to take this tradition away from my children and yet I did not want my stepchildren to feel like, well, “stepchildren.” So I decided to make them my own version of  homemade, keepsake advent calendars.

I took Sophia with me to the craft store on Friday and she helped me pick out wide velvet ribbons. I also got small 1-inch wide plastic rings. I cut each ribbon (we choose three different kinds) into five foot lengths. I sewed 24 rings about three inches apart  down the front of each of the ribbons. When I was finished I figured I needed to hang it from something so I used chopsticks I found at the bottom of my utensil drawer. (I’m really great with improvising. Ask me about the time I made a wholly mammoth costume on short notice out of the dog bed.) I tied thin ribbon on the end of the chopsticks to act as a hanger and the “calendars” are now hanging on the walls in our great room for Sam, Mark and Cheryl to see tomorrow morning when they get back from their mom’s. They don’t compare to Sophia and Eva’s  embroidered ones, but these were made from the heart and I know they will appreciate the thought and effort that went into making them. I can’t wait to see their faces tomorrow.