AIBU to buy my children traditional picture advent calendars?

[MissPB]

I have always bought my children (ages 3 & 6) "traditional" advent calenders. I had them up to being a teenager and have very fond memories of them.

Eldest has cottoned on to the chocolate calendars now because her school friends have them. She hasn't asked for one yet but I wonder if she will this year.

AIBU to keep buying the old-style calendars so that they enjoy the simple pleasure of the count-down to Christmas and wondering what picture they will get?

Yanbu.

Chocolate advent calendars are gross.

We get out paper ones from Paperchase, bloody expensive though.

Oxfam and Amnesty do good traditional scenes with chocolate behind the windows. (fairtrade of course!)

Last year on one of these threads someone suggested making a sort of to do list instead of a calendar. It had a little envelope on each day and some of them were things like "put up the Christmas decorations", "go to a carol concert", "go to town to see the lights be turned on" or "bake mince pies" and some were things like "sort out old toys to donate to charity". I really like that idea and I'm thinking of doing it this year if we get organised in time. I think it focusses less on getting stuff which I like.

I love traditional advent calendars but they are pricey which is probably why people tend to go for the chocolate ones.

DD had traditional ones until about 7, when we couldn't get them anymore.

I think she'd be OK with them again now, though (more discerning about good chocolate and crap chocolate ).

The dcs get chocolate ones at the moment but am planning to make a fabric one for next year.

I, however, have a traditional one with glitter.

YANBU, they are still exciting! I love the ones you can re-use each year (like the wooden one aufaniae has) and will be looking around for one for this year. I always mean to make one (out of felt not wood!), but never seem to get my act together in time.

I absolutely detest the chocolate advent calendars, as instead of having something lovely as you head towards Christmas Eve, you just have a half empty chocolate wrapper lying around the house - or three in my case.

We have a fabric advent calendar, and I also wrap up 24 small parcels which, for the 3 DCs, contain a chocolate coin each, or a chocolate figure, or a small packet of gingerbread men or, as we get closer to Christmas and into the holidays, a pair each of Christmas socks or a Christma jigsaw or a larger bar of chocolate that we might all share on a Saturday evening whilst watching Strictly or Downton. I also do one for my niece and nephew and a colleague's daughter.

We always had a traditional one for the DC until they all got to their teens. They're not that easy to find these days though...

But we also have one of those fabric ones with pockets and we now use that with chocolates/sweets in instead of a shop brought one.

TeddyBare that's a really nice idea. I could easily pop some notes in DS's wooden tree.

my mum made me a hanging one out of fabric, its a christmas tree and has little pockets with a small picture cushion in each that velcro onto the tree to dress it, tis lovely and always makes my boys think of grandma.

I have just bought DH (yes, he's 30!) a Lego advent calendar... He will LOVE it :)

Dd (16) only ever had traditional picture ones. We bought ours last week. She has a Where's Wally Father Christmas one and mine is reindeer one. All her friends love them every year because they have only ever had chocolate ones.

(Lego calendar that has a Lego minifigure for each day)

We have picture advents and lovely big boxes of chocolates over Christmas.

If the usually crappy chocolate in an advent is your chocolate treat thats pretty sad.

Ds2 can't have chocolate so the other two won't have them either. They prefer the picture ones.

Dons hard hat and awaits flaming for utter, wonton, undeniable decadence...

My mum has bought DS this beauty.

I hope he will use it every year and then give it to his kids. We are going to put chocolate coins and pound shop tat it in which will lower the tone. When he is bigger we might break up a lego model and distribute that in it if he likes lego. Years of fun for us all, I hope.

usualsuspect3 oh but it's not a moan about choc calendars, it is wondering whether I am a bit of a meanie to not buy them one. I don't have anything against them scoffing chocolate in the run-up to Christmas either!

I think it is my memories of simple excitement of the picture kind that I would like to pass on to my own children and I suppose, trying to keep a small part of Christmas that is not toooooo commercial and a bit more simple.

thanks for the replies - seems I am not too much of a meanie

EBDTeacher - that is amazing!

We have traditional calendar with a tradition of hot chocolate with squirty cream and marshmallows after school every day of advent - has worked so far (7 and 9)!!

Goodness EBD they sound be called Fortune and Masons

My mum would never allow choco calendars, but strangely enough she was the first one to buy my DD one

DD (8) was trying to talk me round to getting chocolate ones this year, culminating in her her wailing, 'but mum! They're the future!'

Yeah, it is a serious luxury. I just hope we never lose it or break it in a house move or anything.

I think it is completely up to the individual. I really want to get a wooden one that you put your own treats in and can be used every year. However, my MIL seems to think that it is her right to buy my dd a chocolate advent calender despite my resistance. She announced two weeks ago that she had already bought my dd a white chocolate one even though we had said that we thought that she was a little young. She did the same last year when dd was just 20 weeks old, and complained that I didn't give her the chocolate! My dd would actually be happier to find a strawberry inside that chocolate I think, she just loves fruit!