Christmas Review

I know, I haven’t told you a thing about Christmas. It is always such an exciting build up until the BIG DAY and then... nothing. Well, not nothing, in our case it is more... relaxing... playing with new toys... reading new books...doing nothing...for once.

We did have a wonderful Christmas though. One with one family on Christmas Eve and the other one on Boxing Day with the other family! We had great food, beautiful presents and the little one was overwhelmed by the attention of the extended family, by all the presents and all the Christmas traditions:

The baby in the Kripperl

Our bad taste Christmas Tree Ornament competition

The nativity play at church with girls in white dresses and golden headbands as angels

The waiting for the Christkind (baby Christ brings the presents in southern Germany, not Santa, who is responsible for the north of Germany. You see, job sharing does work!)

The cramming of all the wrapping paper under the table

You see a lot to digest for a 2.5 year old. Nevertheless, I think it was the best Christmas ever. For her. For us.

Forget about baby’s first Christmas. The babies are just too small to see anything but maybe the lights. They are too tiny to understand anything of the Christmas magic. So, please leave them alone with Santa or presents or photos or Christmas trees ;-). Because that is all very frightening. All they care about is their usual milk and a clean nappy and somewhere quiet to sleep (maybe mum’s or dad’s belly?).

The year after the babies are starting to see more and understand more, but still it is all very confusing and way too much to cope with. So there is a lot of crying, bumping into Christmas trees, sitting on presents instead of opening them and all of that in the presence of a hundred burning candles. No fun, I can tell you ;-)

This year, however, it was fun. And it was magic. And exciting. And it was not frightening at all. Therefore the little one asked on Boxing Day: ‘When is Christmas again?’

Last-minute gift for little girls: Tutu

I love to make a lot of presents, but sometimes I just run out of time. Or I find something which is just perfect...

 

 ... like this little Tutu found at H&M for 5 EUR. My little ballerina will love it ;-)

The world’s greatest Advent calendar

My little goddaughter is 16 months and since this Christmas will be her first ‘real’ one, I wanted to give her the world’s greatest Advent calendar. I know, I am a bit over-ambitious, but hey I feel haven’t had a Christmas in three years and it is my one and only goddaughter and I am on maternity leave ;-)

I was heavily inspired by my beloved granny , who always gave us the most amazing bespoken Advent calendars. Every year. Always different, unique and full of love. When we were little she divided Lego or Playmobil boxes into 24 little parcels and it took us all December to get the Playmobil hospital room (including nurse, flowers in a vase etc.). Later the presents became less divisible, so she started to make riddles for us and we wouldn’t get the big present before we had the right answer. I remember rushing home from kindergarten or school every day in December in anticipation of what I would find in today’s parcel.

My other inspiration is this amazing mum. When I saw last year what her little one got in his Advent calendar every day, I had the same feeling of anticipation. Luckily she posted the content of each parcel, so you could at least virtually take part in slow fill of the great shop. Pasta, Sweets, Fabrics, Fruits,... all beautifully crafted. And guess what: this year she came up with another 24 wonderful ideas for the little shop. I am full of admiration and follow the unwrapping of the parcel every day.

So after accepting that it is impossible to beat these two in the competition for the world’s greatest Advents calendar, I came up with this idea for my goddaughter: a kitchen set including little pans and pots, little oven mittens, wine and juice glasses, a handmade apron and a set of dishtowels:

Oh my – I had such a wonderful time putting this Advent calendar together. I could have gone on and on. Actually it was harder to limit myself to 24 little parcels than I thought. I have enough ideas for at least another two years. I am not sure, however, that she will play with her little kitchen that long. So maybe I will have to give her these for her birthday – as a complete set. What a shame!

all found at IKEA

al found at Haba