Christmas Advent Calendar

For the past several years, I've gotten Cam the Lego City advent calendar each December, which he has loved. I went to Target a couple weeks back with the intent of buying the calendar, and shockingly got sidetracked by all things Target that I left without the one thing I went in for. That's a Target trip for you.

I got online to order the calendar since I didn't want to make another trip to Target, but couldn't find it, so I came up with a Plan B. I did a spin on my BFF Erin's advent calendar that I've always seen at her house and envied each year, and I also combined it with chocolate, one of Cam's true loves. 

Trust me - he didn't miss the Lego City one!

So here's a breakdown of the calendar...

Erin's advent calendar has a family activity for each day. I like how she plans it out based on things she knows they will already do, so it's not like she is adding a bunch of activities to an already busy month. I'm pretty sure one of her days in December always consists of "eating at Chick-fil-a," LOL! 

I knew of the perfect spot to put an advent calendar in our kitchen and thankfully Target had one for $10 that I ordered and it can even be re-used each year. 

I liked the idea of a simple, surprise activity each day because it makes the month seem more special and fun! Also, with a new baby sister, I really wanted to be sure to have some one-on-one time with Cam. He has been an only child for 8 years and, well, the world revolves around him. :)

I quickly jotted down some things I thought we would both enjoy. For instance, December 1st: Watch Home Alone. It's our favorite holiday movie (and he actually chose it again for one of the following days which was "watch a Christmas movie with popcorn"). Thankfully it's a movie that never gets old! 

I also put a Hershey kiss in each day's pocket so he has a chocolate treat. They have such cute Christmas versions of Hershey Kisses, so I bought a bag of Hot Cocoa Hershey kisses, which are so yummy!

I also reviewed my calendar to make sure each day aligned with something I already had planned or just to ensure it was an activity that made sense for that night. For instance, on the night when Brian had his holiday work dinner, the activity was "make breakfast for dinner," which Cam loves. Brian is not a breakfast-for-dinner person, so I knew we'd do it on a night he wouldn't be eating with us. 

So each morning of the month, Cam has been excited to see what his activity is that day and eat his Hershey Kiss! We're having a fun month so far and I think I've created a new tradition. 

I'll report back at the end of the month to let you know what Cam's favorite activity was! I have a feeling it will be "eat a cake pop at Starbucks" if I know my child well. ;)