If you don't like advent calendars with chocolate in them?

[nappyaddict]

Is it because they have nothing to do with Christmas?

Is it because it is unhealthy?

Is it because they aren't environmentally friendly?

Is it because Christmas DAY is when you get the treats. You don't need a small one every day on the run up to it?

Would you also object to the felt ones with pockets or wooden ones with drawers being filled with chocolate coins, sweets, candy canes, strings of popcorn etc? Or just strings of popcorn if your reason is because it is unhealthy?

I don't like them because they are usually unimaginative and not as beautiful. I have no issue with them for any of the reasons you list.

And yet again my mum has bought one for each of my DC without asking me

I just don't like them cos the chocolate always tastes weird, and also falls to the bottom causing tears in the morning when door excitedly opened to reveal.. nothing.

The other idea sounds lovely.

I don't mind them I would just like to see more of the old type, my dcs got them a couple of years ago and loved them, and dd1 dosen't like chocolate ones anymore

I got 2 wooden ones with mini sacks for each day about 5 years ago in Aldi. Every year I have to go out shopping for fecking trinkets to put in each sack. The kids love it. I wish I'd stuck to chocolate.

It's probably because they are common.

Mind you, I did get very excited at the thought of what the picture would be on Christmas morning on the old bog standard advent calendars. The chocolate ones only go up to Christmas eve.

There is bugger all chriostmassy about a Barbie advent calendar or whatever.

There is a shop in Cheltenham which sells beautiful advent calendars with lovely christmassy pictures on, I get one every year (costs a bloody firtune , I always grumble at the price, but still).

Orm - why the blazes is your mother buying advernt calendars in october?]

Mind you, why are we taklking about them as well

To get them in before I have a chance to I suspect

I think she still beleives in some part of her mind that I am a penniless student and can't afford to look after my poor babies. She still brings food parcels of home-gronw veg and fruit and cakes etc. Not that I'm complaining about those.

If I had a couple of chocolate advent calendars in the house now, they would get eaten in a midnight food raid of madness by halloween.

GetOrfMoiLand. The above is the reason why selection boxes are bought on Christmas Eve in our house.

Ihave actually bought 2 already every year dd1 who dosen't like chocolate wants a cadburys one,
If I leave it until the 1st December I can never get one, so this year we seen one ad bought it although they do have a nice santa on them

So what do you do in place of chocolate ones?

I don't like them because they are nothing to do with Christmas (generally) and because advent is a time of preperation for Christmas, not a feast time. We've got a felt one where you make a nativity scene.

Have heard of filling each pocket with a small tree decoration, such as the German wooden traditional ones, and each day the decoration is placed on the Christmas tree, or on a small tree for the purpose. I think there might have been a fabric version, with fabric baubles that stuck to the tree on the calendar by velcro.

Some people put little messages of an activity to do or something to make. Some put a tiny toy in each day (but that could get expensive) You might as well put a 20p in each pocket, so at least they have £4.80 to add to their Christmas money/vouchers and get something decent.

I have a wooden one from Costco whereby each drawer has a small tree decoration to put on a tree. Last year, I also put a small chocolate egg in each drawer but my girls are not too keen on chocolates. I've only last week chucked away 4 choc eggs kept in the fridge.

So this year, I am thinking of getting them the Lego Advent ones where each drawer has some lego bits to make object i.e. santa, car, tree etc. They can then be used on the lego display once built.

Only problem is I have 2 girls and the lego sets comes in city (which I like), kingdom which I am not keen on and a third one which also, we do not have the sets for so its no use have a knight figurine but to have a city policeman etc maybe useful afterwards.

Still better than chocolate as they can play with these afterwards.

Apparently, the lego set comes in City, Kingdom (Knights theme) or Pirate (sea theme). Luckily, I just got from Ebay the last year city theme and from Amazon, this years city theme (cheapest I could find).

Whilst looking on Amazon, you can get the Playmobile advvent calendars in lots of themes and also, have found a BARBIE one too.

I have made my dd's thier own advent
calenders with pockets.
I enjoy looking for little gifts to fill them up with.
The girls do enjoy the choc days best

I want then to be christmassy and not to go up to new year

nappy - they have nothing to do with Christmas are just another way of companies trying to part us from our cash.

tefal it's the surprise to see what the next picture is. More of a surprise than another bit of manky chocolate each day.

MissDoolittle and spiralqueen would you object to this one? http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/tesco-price-comparison/Sweets/Cadbury_Dairy_Milk_Advent_Calendar_100g.html

It has a Christmas theme on it (although not religious)

Divine do one with a nativity scene.

You have to make sure you don't get the Kinerton shite chocolate ones, DS2 doesn't like milk chocolate (will eat white choc though - weird kid!) and i tried his last year (bought by MIL, as always, sigh) and it was gross!

To be fair, she only chose that one as it had a Night Garden picture and that's the only thing he really likes.

DS1 had a Cadbury's one but i was never going to get any of his

I've bought a felt one for this year for us as a family to make the scene together, though MIL will undoubtedly buy the chocolate ones again. Even for DS2, 'cos he can't be left out' - though he's oblivious

That Divine one looks lovely - could have that one for me:)

I saw [[
www.johnlewis.com/168828/Style.aspx this]] wooden christmas tree advent calendar - the drawers are of a size to have a little gold coin in each, and if my dses were young enough to appreciate it, I would have seriously considered buying one.

Looking on the website - they also do these advent biscuits - which are a bit pricey at £12, but are actually a good idea - you could get christmas biscuit cutters for much less than £12 and bake your own - and decorate them with the dc. I might do this this year, or I might get a more traditional advent calendar.

nappy - still has chocolates even if they are Cadbury's rather than the completely vile Kinnerton. Think they are the start of the slippery slope towards the advent calendars with space for a gift for each day. Given how stockings have grown from one of dad's socks to huge sacks you can see that the manufacturers will be working towards calendards with space for ever bigger gifts.