Christmas is coming

There are things about my childhood that I miss, and one of them is paper advent calendars. They were simple and pretty, and since my birthday occurs close to the end of advent, they always had something of a personal meaning for me.

The advent calendars I had as a child came from Germany. The pictures were old-fashioned and somewhat religious, although some had secular scenes. Each hinge I opened had a pretty picture behind it. I bought the last one I had in grade six, a memorable year in my then-young life. I haven't seen an advent calendar like this in decades, probably since before I left my parents' house. (And of course, I know there are advent calendars with chocolate and other treats in them; these were not the ones I grew up with.)

So imagine my delight when I recently found a paper advent calendar in the style of, if not exactly like, the ones I had as a child. (Sadly, I think there were others, but I waited a week to buy one and the selection was diminished.)

Here is my new advent calendar!

And now that I know they still exist, I can look for another one next year.

As wise people have said, it's never too late to have a happy childhood. Indeed.