The Advent Calendar

I love advent calendars. I'm experiencing the process of opening a new door each day from a slightly new perspective so far this year in that the first two doors have been a "before I go to bed" rather than an "after I get up" event. Sociable sleeping patterns are for those with enough hours in the day.

As a child, advent calendars were always a big deal. My mum, with my input as I grew older, always made the effort to find a calendar with something special about it. There was the one that hung all the way down the door, the paper pop-out house one, and more recently the calendar that wasn't really a calendar. It was a Father Christmas in underwear, and each day you stuck on a piece of clothing to get him dressed up in his thermals ready for Christmas Eve. Most of them were saved and hoarded (the calendars, not Santa's thermals), and the truly decorative of these seem to make a reappearance each year as decorations, much to my delight. This year I have a Quentin Blake calendar. It's a very basic, simple calendar, but I've always been a Quentin Blake fan, ever since I was first introduced to him when making my way through every single Roald Dahl book I could get my hands on aged as soon as I could read.

There have been years when I've forgotten to open some of the doors as the month progressed. Chaotic years when I always made the effort to cart a calendar around with me wherever I was travelling, but wasn't always able to find it. It's difficult to keep up with the whole thing when you're only 11 and trying to deal with time-zones, jet lag, living out a suitcase visiting countless relatives and sitting in a car for over 2000 miles in under three weeks. Or when you're trying to pack up your entire life into yet another suitcase, attend a school dance and materialise GCSE coursework simultaneously. I always felt like I missed something important those years.

None of that matters now. I have my advent calendar perched proudly above my mirror, and I am indulging myself by allowing myself to express the full extent of my glee in as childish a way as I feel like. There may have been jumping up and down involved. My friends and housemates seem to be humouring me as they do so often - so far. If I keep on like this, though, I wouldn't be surprised if I were to come home one day to a small pile of ashes. Must remember to lock my room up carefully.

I was never allowed a chocolate advent calendar either. My mum always said that chocolate was missing the point, and I have to admit that I have come to agree with her. It's about taking joy in the discovery of what secret is behind each door, not extending the tooth-rotting aspect of this already over-commercialised holiday. My grandma took pity on me a couple of years and got me a chocolate one like my cousin was always allowed. Every morning I would eagerly open the door to reveal an uninterestingly formless blob of brown chocolate, only to be told that I wasn't to eat it as part of breakfast, and that I must wait until after my evening meal. Unsurprisingly, I soon lost interest, and the more traditional calendar that stood next to it gained my favour once more.

I hope I never get too old to have an advent calendar.

One thing I have learned about advent calendars, is that the mystery of what will be behind those little doors is really far more of a mystery than anybody ever expects. Sometimes you really have to wonder what on earth the artist was thinking. The 1st of december revealed a little boy popping his head out the top of a pea green bucket. It's a cute little picture, but I don't really understand how it connects with Christmas, unless it's an unsubtle hint to remind me that real trees, the ones that go in buckets, are infinitely superior to the fake ones. That come on stands.

Whilst I'm on the topic of Christmas trees. One day, when I have lots of time and resources, I am going to swat up on my craft skills and make myself the Christmas tree Ent as a decoration.

Until you get quite close to Christmas itself, advent calendar pictures quite often seem to have absolutely nothing to do with Christmas. I can't imagine how I justified this to myself as a child, but it all seems rather amusing now.

Anyway, I can't remember why I decided I wanted to drabble to my advent calendar, but I like the idea and I know I'll enjoy it. It's actually adding to the suspense and excitement. Each day I know I'll be writing a new 100 word piece, and I know it will be based upon that little picture uncovered. Other than that, I haven't a clue. I almost panicked when I got the green bucket. Luckily enough for me, I happen to believe that if you give the LotR cast enough alcohol, pretty much anything will make sense. That may be true for most people, actually, but the LotR cast are fun to write, so I'll be sticking with them for a while. Hope you enjoy.

I put my fairy lights up, too, yesterday. I haven't felt this relaxed about Christmas for a long time.