I remember growing up waiting so patiently for December 1st to come around. You see, growing up in church meant that Auntie Barbara, Doris and Daphne all made sure to get me my own advent calendar on top of the one already been given by my parents and soon I had five advent calendars lined up, some making it til Christmas day and others consumed before

I love advent. I love the anticipation and the preparation and I’m not even gonna pretend that I’ve not peaked too soon this year? Anyone with me?

Before I had my own kids I was a live-in nanny and I remember each year their mum would put slips of paper into each pocket of their calendar and they would run down the stairs each morning with squeals of delight, fending each other off to be the first to see what the activity for the day was and I remember my own delight as a kid as my mum handed me the dairy milk calendar. I’d always dreamed of the rituals and traditions I could bring into our home when we had children and have loved hearing of others, especially traditions from different cultures like Parols, bright and colourful lanterns placed inside the home in the Philippines, and those in Poland cleaning their homes from top to bottom to make it perfect for the arrival of Jesus.