Five Faves Wednesday: Advent

Before I had children, I worked at a Catholic school. A large part of my job during Advent was to prepare middle and high school students for a Vespers prayer service that featured performances from almost every musical and dance group in the school. Everything, from the music and dance, to the entrances and exits from the stage, to the invitation of alumni to join us in the end to sing "Night of Silence" (a partner song with "Silent Night"), had to be executed perfectly. Although the process put a considerable amount of stress on the students and teachers alike, each Vespers service was beautiful and reverent. There were other traditions that made the season special-- schoolwide"Advent Angels" (a way better variation on "Secret Santa"), and every year I'd use the last class before break to read my younger students "The Polar Express" and make elaborate paper snowflakes.



Advent with kids is very different. Decorating is difficult because just about everything is within climbing reach of the toddler. Daily Mass is difficult because I can never seem to feed and dress everyone and be ready to go before 9:30 AM. December is a busy month of rehearsals and performances for me. Mr. Husband and I want to make the season special for our kids, but we have to do it in our own way. Here are five things that are working for us so far.

1. Word on Fire Advent reflections. You might be familiar with Bishop Robert Barron and his Word on Fire ministry from his video series "Catholicism," or his YouTube channel. (If you're not, you may want to check those out!) Mr. Husband and I signed up for daily emails from Bishop Barron that contain a reflection on the themes of Advent. They're short but poignant, and it gives me something to mull over all day besides how to get the kids' room to stop smelling like poop.

2. This series of Advent wreath prayers. Again, short and poignant; a long prayer with lots of responses would be a nightmare with our kids' attention spans. I like the idea of having the eldest and youngest children each light the candles in the first two weeks, but that will have to wait until our kids are old enough to handle lit matches.

(photo credit)

3. "A Season of Hope" album. Here, it's a welcome break from Raffi (Heaven help me, I got my son hooked on Raffi and it's all he wants to listen to all the time) and children's music in general but still singable songs that won't make you sick of Christmas carols before Christmas happens. (When I was a teacher, I had to teach my students to sing a whole collection of Christmas carols by memory for Vespers, so I was ready to be done with Christmas carols by Christmas Eve.) The CD can be purchased here and it's available on iTunes as well. The Brotherhood of Hope were campus ministers at my university while I was there, and I was glad to show my appreciation of their ministry by purchasing their album.

4. Little People Nativity Set. We've gotten so much mileage out of this toy after purchasing it last December. We have a nicer wooden Nativity set, but it's not painted and the figures were cut in a rustic style so they're hard to distinguish. Sir Toddler knows the names of all the Little People figures, and they're perfectly safe for Lady Infant to gnaw and bang on the floor. Although Sir Toddler's games admittedly aren't centered around the story of the Nativity (mostly lately he has the Holy Family assisting with a car crash??), he does love this toy an awful lot.

Can you spot the line holding the tree to the wall?

5. Our fake fir. Even living in New England, Christmas trees are getting expensive. We got real ones for a few years, but went fake last year so we could afford a tree that was taller than four feet. It's nice to be able to keep the tree up all the way until the Epiphany without the bottom getting moldy, it's nice to have the height without the girth of a large tree (our living room is teeny), and it's nice to know that it's light enough that it can't really hurt our kids if they manage to break its wall tether. For Advent, we are leaving the tree untrimmed except for lights. This drastically reduces the likelihood of all of the ornaments getting smashed before January.


Linking up with Ashley, but ignoring the theme because...because.