JI6A8196

It is such a huge job being the mom of the house. I am completely responsible for teaching the children about having faith. I have to fill the shoes of my grandmother who now has Alzheimers.  She instilled God and stories from the bible when I was a little girl. She made sure that we were part of our church and that I prayed every night. Because of this, I find I critical I do the same with my little ones. I want my kids to have faith and to lean on God. They love to pray and it makes me so happy watching them.

JI6A8627JI6A8201

Whether you choose to celebrate Advent or not, these family activities leading up to Christmas are fun for all.

For most of my life, Advent played a very little role.  Sure, I had Candy in each window, but I don’t remember the lesson so much.   I would open one each day leading up to Christmas just for the sole purpose of the candy.  My husband said his Advent calendar had a little chocolate in each window too.  My Advent calendar was a way to get me excited for Christmas, not that I needed much help to get ready for my favorite day of the year!

36a22d0e43ec4682226a6f6a91668e73

I loved Christmas when I was young, partly because I got to play with my cousins and recieve tons of presents.  I love EVERYTHING (caps necessary) about Christmas; the music, the movies, the faith aspect, the traditions, the festivities and gathering of loved ones. So many people share these similar traditions too.

The advent calendar is meant to get us ready, not for a present-opening party, but for a  celebration of the birth of Jesus. I found this wonderful blog by Adriel Booker (bless her :)) that uses the Jesus Storybook Bible. I learned that there are twenty-one stories in it from the Old Testament—each ending with a paragraph that ties in to the imminent birth of Jesus—and then three stories from the New Testament leading up to (and surrounding) the birth story of Jesus.

JI6A8205 JI6A8203

I am going to try what Mrs. Booker does with her little one. She visits the advent calendar twice a day. Once in the morning the kids pull out a note that has a family activity from here. And in the evening we will read the following story. I am thrilled to have found some Christian guidance with leading the kids up to Christmas. Grandma Lucy would be really proud that I do this activity inspired by her and for those three little souls who look up to me. I hope this inspires you too. If you have any other idea you would like to share, I would love to hear from you.

 

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

Tips for Parenting In Style...

straight to your inbox
Never boring, always awesome. Keep up to date with the latest from City Girl Gone Mom.

SHOP THE LOOKS

Pin This Post

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST

8 thoughts on “Advent Calendar With Little Ones”

  1. Congrats girl!!!! I love this and I love the post!! So important to teach about Jesus and is so easy to forget when the holidays get so crazy!!! Awesome awesome reminder!! Love to you and your family!

    Reply
  2. THANK YOU, THANK YOU for this post. It could not have come at a more opportune time. We just bought an advent calendar with the window cut outs for our children ages 4 and 2. Although we take them to church regularly, I still have had a hard time trying to really introduce Christ to them because I feel like they are too young to understand. After reading this post, I no longer feel this way. I can’t wait to do the family activities and read a story to them every day leading up to Christmas.

    Reply
  3. I have my most favorite story ever, called “Santa in Bethlehem”, it blends Santa and Jesus in a way that makes sense to this Christmas holiday. And while we are not the best at going to church weekly, I do insist that we find faith in each other. Just today, while walking through Target, I had a mom and her little boy behind us. He was asking about opening candy, mom said “no, you will just drop them everywhere”, he kept asking, she agreed as long as he was in the cart. We have all been there. Forced to shop with our little ones in tow, having them nag and break your stream of thought every 2 seconds…finally you cave, cause you just want to pick out something for dinner! Needless to say, not even 10 seconds after getting into the cart, the kid drops Lemonheads all over the place, mom has that “mom” voice, the one we use when we know other people are around and you are WILLING yourself to stay calm. Pretty sure the internal dialogue is “if I speak in a calm voice, I will fool this lady in front of me”…not today Lemonhead mom….So I offered to help clean up., because I know how embarrassing it is, cause I have been there, because it’s just the right thing to do. I was amazed by her response. She was so thankful, I swear there were tears in her eyes, she said, “you just restored my faith in people”….not what I was out to do. My point is, teaching our kids to have faith is essential, to have faith in a higher being, to have faith in others, in family, and to have faith in them self…Faith is what keeps us going!

    Reply

Leave a Comment

Send this to a friend