Bloody advent calendars

[Silverswirl]

When I was little we had card advent calendars that had a picture from the nativity under each door or maybe angels, Holly, a bell, xmas tree etc.
Then when my kids first got advent calendars it was the chocolate ones where a small piece of chocolate was moulded into something. Fine. Cost around £1 Its something they really enjoy each morning and builds the excitement to Christmas Day.
For the last few years it’s been the hero / celebration ones as they saw them in the shop and really wanted one. Ok.. I was a bit 🤨 as they cost £5 each and I have 3 kids but knowing how much they enjoy them we’ve had those for the past few years.
I usually ask the kids if they have a preference on which one they like (ie heroes/ Reece’s / Malteasers etc) or if they want a surprise.
This year I asked my DD age 12. She said that 2 of her friends (I know one is wealthy) are getting the body shop one for £50! WTH? I said no, it’s a chocolate one as usual and does she have a preference and she said Heroes then but sounded disappointed.
So now the large chocolate ones are not good enough?
Why must things just get bigger and bigger all the time? I mean come on, who needs 24 tubes of plastic filled with a tiny bit of cream or similar. Really? Do we need to be having 24 samples of stuff?l and spending £50+ on an advent calendar?
Consumerism is on a runaway train and I just don’t think anything will stop it ever?

We do a Lego one
The two girls share it.

We either alternate who opens, or start on the 12th.

For us, at least with Lego it gets reused

I have completely gone off them after feeling quite envious in the past of the various beauty ones when they first came out .
I bought my daughter a beautiful glittery paper one last year that we will use again .
Along side it she had a bag of aldi Santa's and had one each time she opened a window, she was really pleased with it .
I hate the mass consumerism at christmas , its not how i want our christmas to be so i certainly won't ever be buying one .

I can't imagine making my children share a chocolate advent calendar. They cost like a quid each, get them their own one!

@Almostmenopausal

Completely agree. The meaning behind them is totally lost. That thread on beauty advent calendars was both alarming & worrying in equal measure. Everybody knows fine well what's in each of them - so there goes the surprise element - and they're all taking about them as though they're some kind of bulk buy deal, rather than an actual advent calendar! 🤦🏼‍♀️ "Well with the M&S one, you get X & Y and they're worth Z combined! Bargain!"

What is the important meaning that is being lost? Do you think that everyone who buys the chocolate or card advent calendars understands or cares about the "meaning". The expensive adult beauty advent calendars will be for adults and if that is what they want to spend their money on, why shouldn't they? You are being ridiculous to find it "alarming and worrying". Do you never buy cosmetics or toiletaries etc?

We've stuck to old fashioned advent calendars throughout and my DC like them. If they choose something else fine by me and I don't comment even though it's the end of commercialising Christmas.

You could give her the choice of having it out of her Christmas present budget if she really wants it.

As a kid we had one that the three of us took turns opening, just pictures behind the doors and i think we reused it. When my boys were little my mum made us a hanging one with a tree, each pocket had a little padded figure in it like a tree ornament that came out and velcroed onto the tree, we bring it out every year.

I don't personally mind them. Really like the lego/playmobil ones especially if you have a child that collects and actually plays with lego or playmobil. Some nice stationary ones too.

I do understand the consumer mad and waste arguments though. Really don't get the posters who've came along and they're wasteful, their own children share a small chocolate one or reuse a card one each year... But quite like the idea of an expensive one for themselves because they can afford it

Why is it any less wasteful for you to buy yourself a beauty/candle etc calendar and not for someone else to buy their child a lego one?

My DC have always had the picture advent calendars and they love it. You don't have to get the expensive ones, although I appreciate they may ask if their friends get them. I would tell them that they will get less Christmas presents if they get an expensive advent. My DM gave them an expensive (£20) advent calendar last year but they knew they wouldn't get one every year.

We’re a family of four adults and all agreed our upgraded compared to normal ones last year was one of the best part of Christmas. We had Yankee, Lindt and Harry Potter socks ones. This year we have a lego one, mini one one, Morris & Co, Yankee and a Lindt one.
As a family we all said we’d prefer smaller present budget and higher advent calender one.

My ds has severe SEN. After having a sweet a day for 24 days he couldn't understand why he didn't get one on day 25+. This year I have bought him one where he gets a book for 24 days instead. I've got a yankee candle one but as it's not the new one for the year it was cheaper. I have also got a paper one with pictures behind the doors.

When did the chocolate filled advent calendars become a thing in the UK? I recall the late '70s/early'80s when our children brought what was left of their chocolate calendar to the UK from Germany, friends had never seen them and for the next couple of years we spent a lot posting them over in November!

I pushed it this year for a chocolate one (£1 ones) and a Frozen 2 one for each of my toddlers as it had mostly colouring and stickers which are their two favourite things, they were £9.99 each and I get like it was a crazy price for an advent calendar… if my children wanted a £50 body shop one they best start earning some money.. absolutely no way I’d spend £150 on advent calendars and then more on Christmas presents 😂

I love them but we are adults , this year I have Bonne Maman and got my husband a BrewDog one , and actually two turned up

The Pukka Tea advent calendar is on offer at £8 at Boots

www.boots.com/pukka-organic-days-of-christmas-advent-calendar-10282862?

YANBU. The Jo Malone one (priced at £325) is a pretty ridiculous way to count down to Christmas, same as most other high end beauty advent calendars such as Liberty’s etc. I’d rather get six full size products that I’d really like for that price!

Let’s be real, it’s just a way for businesses to bulk sell a load of travel / sample sizes at a premium because of the appealing little boxes and windows in the packaging.

It’s just a shame that children and teenagers are now viewing calendars which are priced as expensively as a Christmas gift as a mere warm up to the day. Ultimately, I guess if people have the money, some of them will weigh it up and think their children should have one. I personally won’t be getting my daughter one because I’m conscious of not saying yes to everything she asks for, whether that makes me a meanie or not!

For something different, The Jacquie Lawson digital Advent Calendar is to use on PC, tablet or phone, there's something different happening in the scene on each of the 24 days, plus other activities and puzzles to do. Suitable for all ages.

See www.jacquielawson.com/advent for explanation and intro video.

We're not religious. We have created some rituals / traditions over the years.

When dd was little she always had a schleich horse one & she adored them & avidly looked forward to seeing what she got each morning. The overall box contents made up a whole play scene. She had a large collection of schleich & added the advent calendar toys into the larger collection & she played with them all year.

I never considered them a waste at all.

No she's a teen she gets a beauty one. In fact last year she got a body shop one & after an utterly shit year of isolation etc seeing the lift that calender gave her each day was worth it's weight in gold.

Each to their own I say.

@TroysMammy

I bought my sister a beautiful wooden advent calendar when she became a Mum and put some little notes in it, e.g. Decorate the Christmas tree, watch a Christmas film, sing a Christmas carol, see the Christmas lights, write Christmas cards. She prefers the cheap chocolate ones that she then chucks in landfill!

I know you meant well but you gave a new mum the 'gift' of a 24 item to-do list, I'm not surprised she didn't love it!

This year I asked for the SpaceNK one for my birthday (start Dec - good timing) and am so excited. The products you get a worth far more than you pay, I think it was close to £1k of products for £199.

Doesn't that just highlight how incredibly overpriced the products usually are?

Well OP I feel I need to chime in and say that I couldn't agree more. My kids have got a chocolate one each, and I thought 3 x £5 was a bit much!

I watched This Morning a while back when they were reviewing advent calendars. One of the presenters said "and you can save so much money!" No, you save your money by not buying it in the first place!!

I don't want to begrudge anyone who gets pleasure and happiness from having a little treat every day. But I do think advent, and indeed Christmas is one big horrible commercial money spinner!

I'll go back to my Grinch cave now....

I make fabric Advent calendars with pockets that can be reused. I am giving four to a friend’s children, complete with one Hershey Kiss for each day. For grownups, I’ve done mini bottles of whisky and Bournbon, toy cars, votive candles, vegan sweets, and other fun stuff.

I started out with toy advent calendars when my girls were small. I needed an alternative to chocolate ones (I don’t see why it being December means they can eat chocolate every day - the don’t in any other month!) and so I did my own thing. We’ve always have a refillable calendar, so no extra waste there. ExH now has the wooden refillable calendar (no idea why he insisted on it - he was never part of finding the bits to go in it. Maybe he actually believed in the advent elves ) so I made the dc new ones (sewed them each a set of advent mini stockings). They now get a variety of bits and pieces in them, stuff they would use/need anyway, and they enjoy the anticipation of it all (2 teens and a 9 year old). Youngest asked for a Lego one last year, and he got that instead, but he does use all the Lego, and was happy with it but has asked to go back to my random gifts this year.

I do yearn for the simpler days of having and being excited by a picture calendar, but this is not the only way the world has moved on. It’s not for everyone, but I and my dc thoroughly enjoy the build up to Christmas, and they get so excited by the advent stuff. And not because of the ‘worth’. Dd1 loves getting silly Christmas hair clips. Dd2 was particularly chuffed to get her ‘own’ blu tack last year. Fun things, individually thought out for each child. And that is why they enjoy them - the thought and care that goes into planning them. (And I am lucky enough to be able to afford to treat them, and have the time to sort it out).

It makes one dark winter month a bit more fun to get through, and hurts nobody.

We have a reusable fabric one I put wrapped sweets/chocolate in. It used to be mine and my brothers.

Advent is my favourite time of year - I try to balance the DCs Christmas excitement with the more spiritual/let's help others side.

We have a cute wooden one, which plays different tunes when you open the door. There's a little space for a present but nothing bigger than a small wrapped chocolate. DD likes it when her present is a bit of paper with a lame joke on it.

Got it for £5 from a charity shop, and apart from a couple of new batteries every year, it's free. Reusable advent calendars FTW.