With Christmas gone, it is time to start putting all the decorations away. Or so I thought, until I was halted by Mac, who informed me everything should stay up until New Year's. But I want to start New Year's with a clean slate; I don't want the task of cleaning up Christmas hanging over my head! So then the question arises: When is the proper time to put away the holiday decor?
We agreed that the tree would stay up, and everything else could come down.
One of the first things to be put away was the advent calendar. According to Wikipedia, the ultimate source of information, :"The origins of the Advent calendar come from German Lutherans who, at least as early as the beginning of the 19th century, would count down the 24 days of Advent physically."
The article goes on to say; "The traditional calendar consists of two pieces of cardboard on top of each other. Twenty four doors are cut in the top layer, with a number ranging from one to twenty-four on each. Beginning on the first day of December, one door is opened each day, counting down the days remaining until Christmas Eve, from one to twenty four. " (Which is not counting down by the way. Somebody please explain the math)
Anyway, my family has always counted down on the advent calendar, starting with #24 and ending with #1. But we seem to be unique in this. Every house with an advent Calendar that I visited this year was counting 1 to 24. And all the store-bought ones have the big prize in #24, implying that #24 is to be the grand finale. I claim that the count down lets kids to easily figure out how many days left till Christmas, which after all, is what they really want to know. But I don't seem to be getting much support on this. Is there anyone who still actually counts down?
Fascinating! I've always started with 1, and as you say, the calendars usually make 24 the grand finale. But I love the idea of using it to count down... it makes perfect sense. Maybe we'll switch things up next year.
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