Let the countdown begin!

Well, today is November 30, the last day of November. That means one thing in the House of Payne: tomorrow the notorious Christmas Calendar starts! Every year on November 30, the kids make a sort of Advent calendar. It's just a piece of poster board with a big calendar in the middle. They work together to name the calendar and decorate the poster with their own Christmas-y drawings. This year everyone was so tired from the Thanksgiving weekend...staying up late watching Charlie Brown or football games or Hannah Montana...that they couldn't work together and the naming ceremony for the calendar was an all-out brawl with kids yelling at each other, hurt feelings, etc. You know, all the stuff that sibling rivalry is made of, and that seems to dominate when people are overly tired. Finally, we went around the table and everyone said one word. Then they put the words together to make the name of the calendar. The final decision was Santa's Christmas Holiday Season. Nice, huh? The creative juices were just a-flowin'. It was like a flood. So, they decorate the poster and we tape little red and green flaps over each day on the calendar leading up to Christmas.

Every day they will rip off a flap (yes, RIP it off!) and discover the surprise underneath. The surprise is either a craft we all make, something we bake, somewhere we go, a game we play, or some other activity designed to ramp up the Christmas spirit. As if we need any ramping up this time of year. But it's fun and this has become a tradition that the kids simply cannot live without. The anticipation begins in November with them wondering out loud, "What will be on the Christmas Calendar this year???" Or, "I wonder if (insert your own creative idea here) will be on the Christmas Calendar this year?" Or they sometimes just get bold and ask for something specific to be put on the calendar. But I'm always a step ahead of them. The calendar activities are decided by me with no input at all from them. Sorry, but that's the way it has to be. I make my list of calendar activities way in advance and narrow them down so that we have a fairly even amount of baking, crafts, activities, and field trips. There are some things that are on the calendar every single year, like decorating the Christmas tree, baking cookies, and movie & popcorn night. But they never know when those will be. And last year we had a huge hit with Secret Santa week. It will be modified this year so that it lasts only a day. Little people can't keep secrets for a week, nor can they be discreet for that long. One day is probably going to be a challenge for a couple of them.

So stay tuned, people. December is going to be a busy month in the House of Payne. Check back here daily to see what we've done. And prepare to be impressed. These Payne kids have got it going on when it comes to Christmas.