A Different Kind of Advent Calendar
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In addition to our regular Advent Calendar, we’re adding something new this year. I couldn’t pass up this adorable hat and mitten string Advent Calendar at an after-Christmas sale one year, but have never used it. Then I had an idea. I decided to fill the hats and mittens with positive character traits, one for each day (think Gratitude, Patience, Courage and more). I’ve talked about many of these with the kids as we’ve read various books but for some time I have wanted to focus on them more.
We do this in everyday life, too, of course, but ruminating in the back of my mind, I’ve been thinking, “Do we talk about these things enough?” I’d like to do something more deliberate, more intentional. I keep thinking about how learning things like self-respect, forgiveness and perseverance will take them far in life, even more important that their academic achievements. We’ve all known people who are highly intelligent, have multiple advanced degrees but who struggle to simply get along with others. So “character” has been on my mind of late.
I started by making a list of the values I want my children to have, the things I want us, as a family, to focus on more, even some things my kids in particular may be struggling with. I think every family’s list will be different. Here’s ours, in no particular order, with more than enough to fill the 25 days of the Advent calendar: Perseverance, Kindness, Determination, Helpfulness, Self-Respect, Respect for Others, Respect for the Environment, Honor, Trustworthiness, Sportsmanship, Gratitude, Courtesy, Creativity and Flexibility, Forgiveness, Cooperation, Acceptance, Honesty, Loyalty to Family, Courage, Patience, Caring, Giving, Peacemaking, Adventurousness, Sense of Humor, Responsibility, Giving, Hospitality/Being a Good Host, Being a Good Friend.
We could easily spend a week or more on each one of these traits and I hope to do just that in the future, but for now, I thought this would be a great way to touch on each trait, define it and look for examples in our own every day life as well as in the characters we read so much about.
UPDATE: Having used our character advent calendar for two seasons now, I’ve found that tying it into book characters, historical figures, family and friends makes this exercise even more meaningful for the kids. Doesn’t Martin Luther King, Jr. exemplify peacemaking? Wasn’t Great-Grandpa so very brave when he left his country to make a better life in America?
My kids have also had moments where they identify some these traits in each other. And that makes this Momma’s heart full. Just in time for Christmas.
