Anyone else over advent calendars?

[Blobbitymacblob]

I’m considering not bothering with advent calendars this year. It was a struggle last year to find something suitable for everyone, and felt like we were just getting them for the sake of it.

Except that it’s been one of the few traditions that the teens have held over from childhood.

Yep stopped getting the big ones full of cosmetics I don’t really want. A nice chocolate one will do me. Even my kids have down graded. Back to a cadburys one. 🤷‍♀️

My family went through a phase of Advent calendar inflation.. eventually it became too much, and we scaled back.

I'll do bigger things for my son until he is old enough, but other family things have mostly gone, or gone back to just pictures or just chocolate.

Honestly, after years of weird things, a chocolate or a picture a day, feels great. Perfect ratio between ease, price and reward.

My son has a fabric one made by his grandma, filled with whatever he is obsessed with that year. It was toy cars year before, and gems/rocks last year. If it was Advent tomorrow, it would be little Lego men this year

We've only ever done chocolate or picture advent calendars, or none at all. The giant ones with jam or cosmetics or alcohol just seem a bit much - there's enough there for an actual gift, I'd rather save it for Christmas Day.

However, this year I have the Taskmaster one on pre-order - the kids have got very into watching the show and I think we're going to enjoy working as a family team to solve the clue each day.

They are still a thing in our house, but I can see how they lose their appeal once children are older.

DH buys me the M&S beauty calendar as part of my Christmas present. I do love it and use everything throughout the year.

DD gets a chocolate one and has a refillable one - this year I've been collecting bits and bobs to put in and its things I know she'll use.

DH has a Lindor advent calendar.

The Dog also has an advent calendar...

We open them in bed every morning, its become a lovely ritual. If it was just DH and I we wouldn't bother - we didn't have them until DD's second Christmas.

When the children were young we just had Cadbury chocolate ones for them and a couple of playmobile ones that came out each year. Now they have grown and left home we have actually ended up with more advent calendar’s. We have had the degusta food one a few times , an escape room one from exit games and a couple of lovely picture ones for the old fashioned feel and even a 24 day jigsaw puzzle . Also have been gifted the m&s and Holland’s and Barrett one a few times too .

I've always just gotten my kids chocolate ones. Last year I bought them the Sweetzy ones, which were good and I almost bought again this year and then thought why the bloody hell am I considering dropping £90 on calendars?!?! That's insane!!

I've never had an advent calendar myself, so I never occurred to myself to get one for me. Was always something that children had..

Escape room or murder mystery calendars are more fun than the chocolate ones.

Not me, I love the trend for gift ones and hope they continue. Some years it's the only thing I've had for Christmas unless I wanted to buy myself something, so it's lovely to get 24 little surprises. I've enjoyed the T2 one, candles, bath/skin care and I do always get a beautiful picture one too. My teen is still using the make up from hers and the Playmobil ones were amazing value for the younger kids, they still play with the pieces. Oh and star wars Lego calendar for DH, the pieces are still played with for that too and it was nearly a decade ago now that we bought it.

I love them! I don’t tie myself in knots doing insta-worthy self filled gubbins though. Nice fair trade, fancy chocolate ones for adult children, lovely picture window one for nil by mouth DC. All mail order or shop bought.

Where do you buy your picture window Advent calendars from? I never see them when I'm shopping.

I see them in independent book shops, at markets, online (some shops and selling sites such as eBay).

For example: https://www.closetandbotts.com/collections/advent-calendars-candles

There's a Christmas shop in York which has a lovely collection:

https://www.kaethe-wohlfahrt.com/en/kaethe-wohlfahrt-york-en-102/?srsltid=AfmBOopKiMNfdpZCvKGVzA8D3aPBusaxd46zsvmRiW1xLwqQcIIw5a6x

I always get an advent candle for me - I love lighting them and seeing the days count down. Tend to just buy chocolate ones for DC, Lindt one went down well a few years ago but tbh so did the cheap Cadbury’s one last year!

@sanityisamyth Whaat, you can get murder mystery ones? I want one this year!

I’ll make do with chocolate but would prefer a mystery one.

I don’t mind them but I do think the ‘excess’ has about reached its peak.

I have had a picture one from Liberty sale and a Fortnum and Mason tea one - still got most of the tea for this year too. The wooden box looks like a decoration in its own right. Oh and we did get a degusta box one year which was nice for novelty value and impressive size!

We only have ever got picture ones. My DC, now adults, like them and they still get one now.

We buy traditional picture ones, and also the smaller advent cards. We also re-used traditional picture ones until they disintegrated. It's a nice thing to do, doesn't cost much and is low stakes. What's not to like. We also have an advent candle, which I love.

We just get the cheap chocolate ones. As others said, it doesn't have to be expensive to be nice, it's just some silly fun, much like a smartshow 3d christmas video quickly thrown together to make people smile.

I like makeup advent calendars, though, but these mostly serve as a proper gift.

So we have a 24 day of exercise one, as well as one of 24 names of God with a passage about each (christians).....
Both have been reused several times- are cards in a little tin so are fairly eco friendly

I love cosy crime novels so a murder mystery advent calendar sounds potentially brilliant. Has anyone done a good one?

@MissMarplesNieceJohn Lewis has really lovely picture advent calendars every year, not that I’m allowed to get them for mine as they want the chocolate!

We reuse the same Roger La Borde pop and slot one every year, it’s become its own tradition 😅 We were never a chocolate/gifty advent calendar house though. That said, I’ve had to really stop myself from getting the St Eval one (FOR MYSELF) in recent years.

I just buy the Cadburys one for all of us and a dog treat one for the dog. I did do beauty etc ones one year and it was a let down.

Thinking of doing none this year as 2 of my DC at most of them in one go (teens)

Dc usually get from me a gift one and a chocolate one, then they usually buy themselves an extra chocolate one and dd even purchased a Lego one with her money. I have just ordered her the p Louise one, she has no idea. I wouldn’t usually spend this much money on her, but DP insisted as he had some money from fathers inheritance and said he would like her to have one because we have the money and might not have this opportunity next year because you never know what will happen. He is right, but I still am not comfortable about spending that much on an advent calendar 🫠
DS has said he does not want his usual lynx one because he still has loads of deodorants from the last 2 years 😂 so I’ll probs just get him an extra chocolate one.

I never had an advent calendar growing up I still don’t get my own but I’ve loved introducing them to my DDs who are still young enough I’m not completely struggling, this years a bit harder but more due to affording what I know they will love rather than knowing what they would love. They still very much love their chocolate ones. My younger 2 ( well definitely youngest) thinks santas Elf’s bring the non chocolate one so I will wait till she’s a non believer before I stop or change the way we currently do things.