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.
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.
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 ]
