Education, Family, Kids, My favorite things

How to Observe Advent like a Boss

Melissa AtLee
Look at this beautiful image of the Annunciation. I wonder where it is?
Photo by Simon Matzinger on Unsplash.

For those of us who live on this (commercialized) part of the planet, we often confuse the end of Hallowe’en with the beginning of the Christmas season. Secular Christmas decorations show up in the stores before we put the carved pumpkins in the garbage bin. People excitedly begin to light up their homes and radio stations start playing Christmas tunes. All of which make my inner Grinch come out.

Now please don’t get me wrong. I love Christmas like any normal, Jesus-loving person does, and I do love the lights and the trees and all the feasting. But did you know that before Christmas there is the beautiful, month-long season of Advent? Advent is a time of contemplative preparation, a time of anticipation of the epic event that is the birth of our Savior. As someone once explained to me, Advent is to Christmas what Lent is to Easter. I love the idea that we can unite ourselves with Mary and accompany her as she patiently awaits the arrival of her precious baby. Having had the privilege of happily awaiting the birth of each of my children, I keenly feel the sacredness of this expectant season and I wish for our family to enjoy it as fully as possible.

But, the craziness of life often gets in the way and I’ve spent many a January looking back and wondering, wow, that was a blur. This year, I would like to enjoy the season with more intention and less wishful thinking. To this end, I’ve put together a plan of Advent activities for our family, which I share with you below. They are all simple to execute because I don’t do complicated. If you, like me, want to cherish this time of joy and preparation, then I hope that some of these ideas help you start one or two great traditions.

The Advent Wreath

We have been laying out an Advent Wreath for quite a few years now, and every Sunday evening we gather as a family to light the Advent candles, say a prayer (something like this), read a scripture passage, and sing an Advent hymn, such as O Come O Come Emmanuel or O Come Divine Messiah. We’ve been using purple and pink candles from the dollar store, but this year I’m super excited to be debuting proper Advent candles and ring which I sourced from trusty Amazon.

If we do nothing else during Advent, I’m glad we have this family tradition to prepare us for the birth of Jesus.

The Advent Calendar

Another quick and easy craft is to print this Advent Calendar by Catholic Icing. The kids can color in a holly leaf each day, starting with the first Sunday of Advent. Even my non-artistic kids love this calendar.

Our Homeschool

As our weekly activities wind down in December, I’m going to try something different in our homeschool. For the first time ever, we will put most of the academic books away. Instead, we will start the day with Morning Basket time. Pam Barnhill over at Homeschool Solutions is the master of the Morning Basket, and right now she has an amazing deal – she’s offering her Christmas Celebration Morning Time Plans for free! While the word “Christmas” is on the title of the plans, these are daily plans to follow from December 1 up to Christmas day. I’ve downloaded them and they are amazing. They include morning prayers, Advent antiphons, scripture verses, beautiful poems, and book suggestions. I can’t wait to get started!

We will hopefully have time to focus on the activities that often get sacrificed on the altar of math and grammar. My oldest son wants to figure out how to light up the Christmas tree using electronics. Another kid really wants me to help him with his 3D paper castle. The little kids just want to play and bake with a mom who is not so rushed all the time.

I admit that I’m very nervous stopping most of our regular school work — the idea of “falling behind” petrifies me. But, observing this beautiful season is its own learning experience. So please say a prayer for me that I will actually slow down for my kids.

Read Aloud time

Reading is one of our favorite family activities, and I especially enjoy reading Advent and Christmas books to the kids. Here are some of my all time favorites:

As always, Sarah McKenzie over at Read Aloud Revival has an amazing list of Christmas books to search for at your local library.

Celebrating the December Saints

December is such an exciting month for saints! We have St. Nicholas (the original Santa Claus) on December 6, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8, Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12, and St. Lucy (my saint!) on December 13, among many others. Here are some craft ideas from Catholic Icing to celebrate these feasts with your kids.

The Gospel of Luke

My husband reminded me that the Gospel of Luke is 24 chapters long, and wouldn’t it be great if we read one chapter a day from December 1 to the 24th? I hope we can do this as we say our nightly prayers.

Preparing the Manger

This will be another first for us. I’ve sourced a small wooden box and a bundle of hay from Michaels. Whenever someone does something that is kind, loving or merciful, he/she can put a piece of hay in the box, thereby making the crib for Baby Jesus with love, kindness, and mercy. Let us hope to have a nice and comfy bed ready for Him!

Recipes!

Bring out the sugar, flour and butter! Check out this comprehensive list of Advent recipes.

For more inspiration…

Check out the awesome suggestions by Bonnie Landry (podcast interview here), Auntie Leila and Mary Ellen Barrett.

Now, I’d love to hear about your Advent Traditions. Have a Blessed Advent, everyone!

Published by Melissa AtLee