Here you see another installment of our family's tradition to use our many Christmas books as an advent calendar to the special day. I may decide to hang the books on the railing, as I have other years, but for now they're happily propped up between the balusters in our front entry. Visitors are always confused what on earth this is. Letting them in on the secret is part of the fun.
I almost didn't do it this year, hence the Dec. 2 start date, because of a few naysayers in these parts. "Oh, Mom, just put the books in a box," said one. (You mean the box they've been hiding in the last 11 months?!) Would it be worth all my efforts to round up fabric scraps (we're going green here) and wrap the books? I even went so far as to poll the children this morning. One child, one sweet, newly endearing child went against the grain and said yes, he wanted to do this. That was all I needed! He did a great job making the number labels.
I like how this tradition gives meter to one of my favorite holiday activities: reading with my children. Perhaps the greatest post-holiday letdown one year a while back was packing up the mute books we never shared that busy season. No more of that. My plan is to read these as a family each night. I've noticed that even though the older children may initially scoff, they too are excited to see what book got opened that day. I think it's because more than turning pages, we're returning to memories. Happy ones, I hope.
