Advent 2013: Epic fail

Here's the thing, they say the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and I am the freakin queen of good intentions... This year, I had it all planned out- I would do spring cleaning during advent, we would make 'special bread' and go see the lights for St Lucy's feast day, we would set up a living Nativity starting on the feast of St Barbara etc... Then, it just didn't happen. It was all too hard and so yeah: epic fail!

We did manage to establish a couple of basic routines that we would like to continue- we did unwrap a book each evening with a Jesse tree symbol and read it together, as well as lighting the advent wreath each evening while we said our evening prayers. So, in a way, it was not entirely lacking of advent spirit. Also, I did clean some stuff and collect some clothes for a donation- but really, I could not call what I did spring cleaning- more like just making sure that we could maintain living in moderate comfort without constantly stepping on toys.

But, even though I seemed to have completely messed up this season, I'm okay with it because that's life with kids- it is, at times, messed up. Kids don't always follow the rules, they don't always get the point, they don't always go with the flow... Sometimes, and in our case, most times, they only do what they want to do- our plans are irrelevant. Also, sometimes, it all just seems too hard, and so giving up can feel like the only option.

However, reflecting on the season, I was struck by a light bulb moment- advent, like life, is a work in progress! I don't need to have the perfectly planned, intricately organised and awesomely orchestrated advent every year... Actually, it's probably not even effective. Our family is very young, we are still trying to figure out some of the basics- like how to get three kids to go to sleep when you only have two bedrooms to put them in (I know, first world problems- but we are struggling with this particular conundrum). We need to start small, and build on our advent experience each year. Maybe I went into this advent with too many ideas, too many expectation really, and so set myself up for a bit of a fail. Luckily, because we set the bar so low this year, things can only get better!