In not wanting DS to have an advent calendar?

[Frostyfield]

I am very much in favour of healthy eating but even I don’t mind a minuscule bit of chocolate every morning.

The problem is DS is too young to understand what an advent calendar is and why he’s getting a bit of chocolate so every morning after a bit of chocolate he was crying and pointing at the advent calendar wanting more. (Grandparents got it for him.) In the end I just put it away and no harm done.

Now DH has got it back out and thinks DS is missing out. AIBU about it? To me, tantrums every morning over a tiny bit of chocolate aren’t worth it.

Ha, I thought I’m alone in doing this. In the pantry we have 70% Lindt and Cadbury Dairy Milk - DC knows we eat the dark one and the purple one is daddy’s chocolate.

My aim is to teach him chocolate is good, as long as it’s actual chocolate. I figured it’s better he is allowed a little and often.

As it’s close to Christmas we are now also eating After Eights, he loves them.

He eats all sorts of sweets at parties and nursery, I don’t police outside the house.

I had a picture one at that age, mostly animals so a lot of time was spent looking at the pics and making the relevant noise.

Mine never had a chocolate advent calendar, just get a different type of calendar (we had an activity one).

Not even two is way too young for advent calendars. It’s a nice thought from a grandparent but needs to wait until he’s older.

Not even going to start on the nonsense of daily chocolate but only if it’s not ‘commercial’ (as opposed to………non-commercial?) chocolate. Or the competitive ‘good gracious only 80% cocoa that would be SICKENING how can you eat something SO SWEET’ etc.

How about one of the traditional ones where there’s no chocolate just a pretty picture to open each day. I switched to this option when my children were small and they loved it. The chocolate ones are a nightmare when they are too little to understand the concept.

Yeah, my MIL got one for my then one year old last year and it was a colossal pain in the arse. This year, it went straight to local foodbank that was asking for them!

I've waited until DCs are 3 to give them advent calendars and they seem to get it.

Can't beat a bit of chocolate for breakfast!

Apologies for the use of the word commercial - I'm severely sleep deprived. Commercial wasn't actually the word I was looking for. I have no idea what word I was looking for. Obviously all chocolate is commercial.

This is why our kids have the wooden calendars and we only put 1 chocolate in each day instead of filling it

This thread was basically created to let us all know that your child eats very healthily and you just wanted to ensure everyone knew that.

Congrats

I think YABU because now is the perfect age to teach him “no, only one today”.

You need to put in the hard work now in order to raise well behaved, civilised children in the future.

I have a child the same age and we have a book calendar. The first few days she got really upset she couldn’t have more than one at once (she loves books) but now she understands we open one then close it and she helps me put it away.

We just say 'we do this once per day' and that's it.

No, it really wasn’t, although he does eat pretty healthily, so sorry about that, should I lie and pretend he lives on chicken nuggets and fruit shoots to keep the Mumsnet bitches happy? Nursery can take more credit for it than me, anyway.

Some of these comments are brilliant for pure MN though I think the book advent calendar is my favourite although the taste of non commercial chocolate is a close second.

I got my two year old one with little books in. When I was making him lunch he tore it open and got out all the little books. I was only gone about a minute! I just came back to a mess and loads of little books scattered everywhere 😂

They don’t get such things at this age and I know mine would be the same over chocolate. Definitely not worth it. There are years and years of advent calendars ahead, one more year without won’t make a difference and he isn’t missing out. X

She has a book advent calendar because she doesn’t like chocolate. What’s weird about that?

There are loads of them out there for toddlers - Disney, Marvel, Pixar, Princesses, Cocomelon etc.

My toddler has hers after lunch and that seems to work ok as she’s generally full-ish, so a little milky bar choc is enough.

But I also have a 7 year old with a very sweet tooth who would happily eat an entire advent calendar of chocolate in one sitting if I didn’t supervise.

Also when I was a kid I used to open mine at the bottom, eat all the chocolate in one sitting then stick it back together and be annoyed with myself every day after. Kids do stupid shit especially when it’s relating to something so tempting.

I did apologise for the use of commercial. My brain is mush and that wasn't what I meant.

No one needs to apologise and no one said that liking books was ‘weird’.

but there are comments here that are very MN, shall we say.

2 is far too young to understand the nativity of Christ. And Advent calendars are meant to unfold the story of the build up to Christmas and the journey to Bethlehem, not stuff small children with yet more unhealthy chocolate!
I would wait until your child is 4 or 5, then get a proper Advent calendar. With pictures of the archangel Gabriel, the Annunciation, the star, the shepherds, Mary on the donkey etc. Culminating in the wondrous birth in the lowly stable. It’s a beautiful way to introduce young children to Jesus.

It's chocolate not crack...

2 is a very good age for fairytales, surely?

Wish I hadn't bought a chocolate one for DS this year, he's nearly 2.5 years old. Thought it would be nice. He ends up having mine and DP's too just to keep him happy. He 'finishes' his breakfast too soon just to open it.

Except that Christmas is actually Saturnalia since the Christians stole the date in the 4th century, so it’s actually the time to teach your child about the Gods, farming and the Emperor Augustus.