Christmas Fun
Every year I’ve given my son an Advent Calendar. At first it just started out with one of those little cardboard ones you can open and inside each day was a chocolate. Somewhere along the way my mother-in-law gave us a Santa Shaped reusable one covered with 24 little pockets to fill. The first few years I searched, scoured and slaved to find things tiny enough to fit in the 24, 2 inch squares. I did a combination of chocolates and little toys. Let me tell you, finding little toys is quite the chore! And I felt like the horrible, bad mommy if I just filled it all up with candy.
One year when the budget was tight and I ran out of tiny treasures I decided to create some coupons to fill in the blank spaces. Simple things like “I’ll take you for an ice cream.” and “1 hourof Monopoly.” handwritten on little cards made from spare gift wrap. The little advent coupons were such a hit that the next year I did more coupons and less treasures and candy.
This year I asked my son if he wanted coupons or toys. Of course with gems like “Stay up all night.” coupons, he picked all coupons, no toys. He not only looks forward to opening each day’s coupon, but I suspect he sneaks peeks and reads ahead. He loves it, I have fun creating the coupons for him and I get the whole family involved providing personal coupons.
Some examples of coupons he gets: 1 hour of board games with Mom. 1 video game rental. 1 get out of trouble free. Bike ride with Mom. Play catch with Mom/Dad. 1 pass on any 1 dinner item. 1 sleep over. 1 Go Fishing with Dad.
Any special thing you’d normally say “Aw not right now.” or “Maybe later honey.” can be used as a coupon. The trick is the child gets to use it when THEY want to and you can’t say no. Some have restrictions to them, but very few. Such as staying up all night can only be used on weekends. You’re pretty much only limited to your imagination.