Family history isn't always about what happened to people a long time ago. It's important to remember that what we are doing now is also part of family history. So I want to write about a tradition that I started with my family.
A number of years ago, I found in a catalog a beautiful Advent calendar that consisted of a standing chest with 24 drawers that could be filled with various small treats and treasures that could be revealed as Christmas came closer.
By the time I acquired this set of drawers, my children were adults and not living at home, but I didn't let that stop me. I had a wonderful time throughout the year acquiring items of the right size to go in the drawers. Some of the items included:
*nail clippers
*Tic-Tacs (2 boxes fit in the drawer perfectly)
* lip balm
* a collection of safety pins
* small bars of soap
* a book of stamps
* money
* a bag of chocolate coins
* hair ties
* a small tape measure
* a box of thumb tacks
* shoe laces
* a matchbox car
* dental floss
* small wind-up toys
* small candy canes
* erasers in various shapes
* a roll of tape
* a small pencil sharpener
* picture hangers
* squishy toys
* a tiny bottle of hot sauce
* a tiny bottle of perfume
* page marker tags
* assorted pretty stones or shells
* rubber stamps
* a small deck of cards
* a small animal figure
* a Lego figure
* jewelry
One year I even found a tiny stapler that just fit in a drawer. Sometimes there are gag gifts and sometimes very nice ones. I like the element of surprise, but there are certain things that people look for every year: money, lip balm and nail clippers. Hard to have too much of those.
Since my sons didn't live at home, we opened all the drawers when they came to visit with each person taking a turn to open a drawer and keep whatever was inside.
Over the years, as my sons married and I became a grandmother, I kept this tradition going, and it's something my grandchildren look forward to. (I think the grown-ups look forward to it also.) Some years, especially during the pandemic, we had to do this via Zoom, but it was still fun and I would mail the prizes to each family even if they couldn't be there in person.
Here are some pictures from this year's version with two of my grandchildren. (The other two were on Zoom this year). I have expanded to two sets of drawers because I have so much fun every year finding interesting things to put in the drawers and the second set has different size drawers, so I can expand my range of gifts. I can happily cruise the aisles of office supply stores, hardware stores, drug stores and toy stores, as well as museum gift shops, looking for just the right things for next year's drawing. My sisters and other friends have gotten used to me exclaiming in the middle of a store: "Oh, that would be perfect for the Christmas drawers!"
Whoever calls a number gets both of the numbered drawers. Sometimes there is some bargaining back and forth about a particular item.
I recently asked my grandchildren what theyliked about the Christmas drawers. They told me they liked it because it involved the whole family and they got to see their cousins, even if it was sometimes via Zoom.
They also liked the element of surprise where you never knew exactly what you would get when you opened the drawer you had chosen.
"You're not thinking about stopping it, are you, Grammie?" they asked.
Not a chance.
