A New Twist

The Dad's mother is 86 years year old, has Alzheimer's, and lives in an assisted living facility about an hour from here. When The Dad went into the attic last night to get our advent calender, he came down with the advent calender this picture. It was handmade, out of felt and sequins, over twenty years ago by my mother-in-law. We already had one and no one was interested in switching.  I had forgotten about it. When he found it, The Dad wanted to use it. It had little and sequin ornaments that fit into the pockets. 

Today I  cut 1" x 3" rectangles out of card stock. I put GB, Hope's, and Mali's names  across the top, easily visible. I wrote something under the name on each rectangle. Some were suggestions for seasonal activities such as wrap a present, some were for treats such as have an extra Christmas cookie, and some were suggestions for encouraged behavior such  help someone with a smile today.

Today was December 1st. The card had GB's name on it. She choose an ornament, pulled out the card, and read it. It said "Hug someone you love today". She smiled and gave Hope a really nice hug. Then she put the ornament in the pocket with the number 1.


A new twist on our old traditions. GB isn't feeling displaced (previously, she was doing the old advent calender every day) and Hope and Mali are part of our new tradition.