Last of 24 Days

in Reflections3 days ago

This is probably going to be the last time we do this for a number of reasons, but with December starting tomorrow, there are now 24 small presents waiting to be opened for the advent calendar. Luckily, I have been too busy to do most of the shopping for it, so twenty of them were bought to do from places that had Black Friday sales on. Not that these things are very expensive, as they are either token items like a lollipop, a little bit of short-term fun like a bracelet, or stuff that Smallsteps needs - like socks. I also bought her a sewing kit, for a couple euros, so I can teach her how to mend her own buttons.

Practical.

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I am a lame dad.

Smallsteps specifically asked for the calendar this year, so I figured it is not a bad way to end end the short-lived tradition. We started it when we moved into this house and have kept it pretty sensible through that time. Ending it though is because the prices have changed significantly, and the token gifts won't have as much impact as earlier. We always put something in there that is special for Smallsteps.

This year, that is a few surprise mouse decorations.

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Seems weird?

I don't really know why it started, but for around five years now, Smallsteps has been obsessed with mice, often playing one herself. I don't know when it will end, but for now I am happy to feed her childhood a bit longer and perhaps it will be something that she will remember into adulthood. Possibly questioning what she was thinking at the time. Tomorrow she will get the three mice (that represent our family) and can go on display to kick off our Christmas cleaning which also starts tomorrow. A couple weeks later she will get a tree decoration. And the last one, is a small mouse I found in Germany holding some gingerbread. In between, there are a few little mouse themed gifts, like a pencil with a mouse eraser on it.

Christmas and the gifts themselves are not very important, but I do like the idea of making things a little more special and, the gifts are little more personal. When I was a kid, I don't remember my parents going to much effort at all to think about what they got me. What I do remember is there was always decent food, and some chocolates. My daughter can't eat the chocolate, but the food we can do.

Next week is Finnish Independence day and this year, it creates a long weekend, not that it matters for me at the moment. What I have planned though is to have some families visiting us on Thursday evening for some glögi, gingerbread, cheese and the like. Nothing fancy, but hopefully enough to keep the conversation. None of the families know each other. I have wanted to do this for a couple years already, but now is the time.

And with the extra time I have on my hands, I will be able to do all the shopping, cleaning and setting up for everything, so that my wife doesn't have to worry about it. There will also be friend's of Smallsteps included in the families, so they will have something to do while the adults talk. I hope that it is a success and not awkward, because I would like to have a broader base of friends and families and perhaps build some kind of local community that is at least familiar with each other.

Finns tend not to be the most social.

But they do like free food.

Despite circumstances, I am quite looking forward to December and being able to potter around and do things that I wouldn't normally do during the day. I have already started planning out next steps for business, but I am not going to put much pressure on it over the next few weeks and instead see if I can get some of my social groove back instead. I am not an extravert, but I like good conversations and, I like being around a wide range of topics. The group on the invite are all quite different in many of their professional endeavours, but I think they will actually find a lot in common too and have some great talks together, so it should be fun.

Now though, it is very late, and I have been meaning to get to bed earlier. I will write a letter to Smallsteps (as I do for every weekend morning) and say that we will have breakfast together. Hopefully, she will also notice the presents on the piano and will get excited about what lays ahead. She loves surprises.

She must get it from her mother.

Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]

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Despite circumstances, I am quite looking forward to December and being able to potter around and do things that I wouldn't normally do during the day. I have already started planning out next steps for business, but I am not going to put much pressure on it over the next few weeks and instead see if I can get some of my social groove back instead. I am not an extravert, but I like good conversations and, I like being around a wide range of topics. The group on the invite are all quite different in many of their professional endeavours, but I think they will actually find a lot in common too and have some great talks together, so it should be fun.

...is indeed the very best thing about quitting or getting canned(fired) before the holidays: The free time.

You are quitting, I was once canned. Your is a happier circumstance then mine.

I was canned before Thanksgiving once, and considered it a godless act for sure, by the worst sorts.

Yet the severance and the time off, made for the best holiday season in recent memory.

I hope you enjoy this time off and the honeymoon season of good thoughts and happy expectations that supercedes new ventures.

For truly the most important quantity we have in our time of life, is time, a precious irreplacible commodity.

:)

Yet the severance and the time off, made for the best holiday season in recent memory.

This is what I am hoping for. Where I have a few nice days just to relax and also set some things up for family too :)

I'm sure she is going to love it. I used to do advent calendars when I was a kid, but I think they were all chocolate. These days they make a whiskey one that I think would be interesting to check out, but it cost well over $100. We used to do the chain thing when we were younger too. You would make a chain out of paper and each day you remove a link from the chain until you get to Christmas day.

I used to do advent calendars when I was a kid, but I think they were all chocolate.

This is why we did it this way. Smallsteps can't have the chocolate, so we were padding them with fruit smoothies and healthy snacks! Now, we can have a bit of candy, but mostly it is stuff that she can use in some way.

There are some pretty insane "adult" ones now. 1000 of dollars for perfumes and makeups, dildos... endless commercialisation.

Haven't heard of the chain thing - might be good for Hive :D

Haha, yeah, It was pretty cool. That actually might be a good idea. That give me an idea for a post this morning. Thankfully I have never seen some of those adult ones you mentioned!

Sounds like a wonderful family tradition man, truly. I hope that the financial situation improves next year so that you don’t have to end it and can keep it going until she at least gets to double digits in age when things change a bit more.

I think she will be into mice the rest of her lives as a way to remember her childhood and the special memories. We have a friend who is in her 60’s and she has loved little frog figurines and frog things her whole life. She’s got a bunch of them around the house and it’s quirky but a nice thing to have as a way to be unique.

I hear you on the social side. We were hoping that my son going to school now we would make friends but sadly for whatever reason the people around here must be less social than the damn Finn’s. We haven’t made a damn parent friend lol very annoying. That get together sounds like a lot of fun though! I’m sure it will go well enough for most and those that truly can’t hang just won’t need to come to the next one!

At the rate of consumption these days, by the time she hits ten, the expected presents will require licences, warranties, and insurances! :D

She’s got a bunch of them around the house and it’s quirky but a nice thing to have as a way to be unique.

I am hoping that if Smallsteps has kids, she will have a box of memories that they can have as part of their traditions too :)

We haven’t made a damn parent friend lol very annoying.

It does take work. Repetitive work. Most people are very passive in connecting these days. Even our neighbours who have been friends with my wife since childhood, we hardly see. Keep trying!

I think tou should feel happy as she can't eat chocolate. While shopping today, I saw a dad bought several chocolates with several brands for his son. I wanted to say this is not a healhty way of feeding a kid, but then didn't want to poke my nose in.

Yeah, I am glad. She has had one of the healthiest diets growing up so far - though it was forced. If she had been without allergies to begin with, it would have been an awesome diet!

I believe the sewing kit will be the one she ends up loving most... certainly the one she uses most in the future. I love practical gifts too

I hope so. I had to repair some of my own clothes as a kid, and I still do all the repairs around the house. My wife is useless at it! :D

At first I intended to gift myself few hundreds HBD for my birthday/christmas. But I think that instead I will buy a drawing tablet and software. That will delay buying HBD but at the moment it seems to make more sense. But I think that in this case neither option is really bad.

Either are a good present to yourself - just have some fun :)

I hope you don't end the tradition. Children only have one childhood, and then it's gone forever.

How about telling her that you have to make savings from Jan to Nov, so you can all have a great Christmas? Involve her in coming up with savings ideas in January. It should teach her thrift!

I think she is the thriftiest of us!

That's a lovely tradition, I think even as Smallsteps is growing up, there will be things that she'll appreciate and be meaningful to her, and hopefully won't cost too much.

She asked today if she could have more of a "big girl's room" 😢

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All the effort you have made in creating this magic for so many years will have its good results in the future. I wouldn't be surprised if some gifts are timeless because it represents the love of a family and a special father. Whether or not you repeat this tradition in the future, the memories you have created will never be erased. Happy to greet you Tarazkp, I wish you the best of the months 🙏

PIZZA!

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