Change of Plans

 

Charlie and I are waiting for it to warm up a bit

before we take a walk

and as my run to Webster City has

been cancelled,

I have what amounts to a free day.

Yippee!

 

What to do!?

As with any free time - it will fill

much too quickly

and seem much too short.

 

It struck me, yesterday, that we

are half-way through November.  How that

happened is a mystery, but it

means that I need to get started

on Aidan's advent calendar which is

traditionally delivered

at Thanksgiving.

A tradition that started when we lived hours

 and hours away

as a way for me to share the

holiday anticipation with him.

 

One year he received fancy envelopes

containing a carol for each day.  His dad

sang them at bedtime.

 

Another year it was the pages

of a lovely story of a pine tree

 rewarded for its

kindness to other forest creatures.

 

His own tree and ornaments one year.

 

Last year his reading skills

allowed me to mark off

pages for him to read everyday

from a schmaltzy cute paperback

about a homeless dog looking

for a family during the holidays.

 

Other years have been a combination

of whatever

school supplies

trinkets

gum

coins

bills

games

puzzles

will fit in the chosen container.

 

Pinterest

 

It's time to choose a container and theme -

a task that gets harder as he grows older.

If I want to keep the containers manageable

the content is pretty limited.

He doesn't like chocolate

which eliminates an easy default.

He's a boy - cute stuff only goes so far.

 

So today will be dedicated to strategy.

Making plans and lists.

Sorting through materials on hand.

Necessary groundwork

for productivity

if this Christmas project

 is actually going to happen.