Advent calendar 1
Dec. 1st, 2025 04:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
antisoppistAnWhen the kids were very little, a friend gave me a whole box of Christmas picture books that hers had outgrown. Instead of reading them all at once, I got 24 cardboard folders, decorated them with pictures cut out of old Christmas cards and drew big numbers on them. I put a book (or sometimes two because there were lots) and lo, we had an Advent book box, and every day we opened a new folder after tea and read a new Christmas book. It carried on long after they had outgrown picture books but they did eventually outgrow it. Last year we were talking about traditions and the daughters said the Christmas picture books were great and it's a pity that doesn't happen for grown-ups. So I said what if we took it in turns to pick a Christmas scene from a book and typed it out and printed it (or photographed it and printed it) every day from 1 December so we did that and every day whichever of us it was put it in the kitchen before they went to bed and the others read it when we got up. The source was only written at the end so you could play "guess what this is from" while you were reading it.
This year we are doing it again. Opinion is divided as to whether we can use the same ones or not but the current plan is to try and find new readings but we can re-use last year's if we can't think of any more. We are torn between the repetitive seasonal familiarity and the fun of hunting them down and thinking what to pick.
But I thought I would share a paragraph here each day for you to identify or ignore.
I'll add the source as a comment at some point in case anyone wants to do it as a quiz. I'm not banning spoilers in comments otherwise though and due to time zones it is not a competition!
This year we are doing it again. Opinion is divided as to whether we can use the same ones or not but the current plan is to try and find new readings but we can re-use last year's if we can't think of any more. We are torn between the repetitive seasonal familiarity and the fun of hunting them down and thinking what to pick.
But I thought I would share a paragraph here each day for you to identify or ignore.
"I want some crackers
And I want some candy;
I think a box of chocolates
Would come in handy;
I don't mind oranges,
I do like nuts!
And I SHOULD like a pocket-knife
That really cuts.
And, oh, Father Christmas, if you love me at all,
Bring me a big, red india-rubber ball!"
I'll add the source as a comment at some point in case anyone wants to do it as a quiz. I'm not banning spoilers in comments otherwise though and due to time zones it is not a competition!
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