Which Order do you Open Your Advent Calendar?

[Happyinwonerland]

I bought DD the Disney Animators Collection advent calendar from the Disney Store, and I can't decide if I'm supposed to let her start at 1 on Dec 1 and count up the calendar dates or start at 24 and count down the days until Christmas.

Thoughts?

Clearly I have very important things happening in my life right now.

 

[Disneylover99]

Start at 1 on Dec. 1st.

 

[Meriweather]

Start at 1 on Dec. 1st.

This!

 

[ronandannette]

I always thought an Advent Calendar was, well, a calendar. Start at #1 for December 1st and continue daily up to December 24.

 

[brockash]

We've always started at 1 for Dec 1st. Never occurred to me to do it any other way.

 

[meggiebeth]

I saw this debate last year and was very surprised that people would start on the 24th. It’s an advent calendar - you’re counting up to Christmas, so you start at 1, at least in the UK. I’ve never seen anyone do it the other way.

 

[Disney_Alli]

Never knew there was a debate. Open 1 on Dec 1st and so on.

 

[amcnj]

Some of the ones I had in the past had a larger door with a larger item in number 24 as this was the item to be opened Christmas Eve Day, December 24. Or the older ones that just had religious pictures under each flap, had the scene of the birth of Jesus under #24.

Interestingly, Advent isn’t always Dec 1-24. Some calendars used to have the actual days involved, some starting earlier and some later than Dec 1, though the ones I commonly see today have standardized on Dec 1-24.

 

[verleniahall]

You always start with #1

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

My husband and I had a legit argument about this a few years ago.
I say start at 25 and count down, he says “It’s a calendar so you go by the date”.

 

[Disneylover99]

My husband and I had a legit argument about this a few years ago.
I say start at 25 and count down, he says “It’s a calendar so you go by the date”.

Exactly. So you count up.

If you peek at the gifts ahead of time, you'll see that the highest number of your calendar has the best gift. For your typical kids chocolate advent calendar, that ends at 24, there might be a foil wrapped chocolate Santa while all the other numbers have a foil wrapped ball of chocolate.

You don't want to open your Santa on day 1 and then be left with only balls for the rest of your days. You save the best gift for last.

 

[Hikergirl]

I bought a couple this year and I'm starting at 1, not because of the date but because it's the start.

 

[Micca]

So no one else just opens all the little doors at once and dumps the candy out into a big pile?

 

[Disneylover99]

So no one else just opens all the little doors at once and dumps the candy out into a big pile?

No silly. That's what we did last week for Halloween. Only we knocked on the little doors first.

 

[porschegrl]

So no one else just opens all the little doors at once and dumps the candy out into a big pile?

I saw this thread last night and briefly considered sending an advent calendar to my son who is away at college. But I am certain this is exactly what he'd do.

 

[QueenIsabella]

So no one else just opens all the little doors at once and dumps the candy out into a big pile?

You only do that with the wine Advent calendar!

 

[Happyinwonerland]

Exactly. So you count up.

If you peek at the gifts ahead of time, you'll see that the highest number of your calendar has the best gift. For your typical kids chocolate advent calendar, that ends at 24, there might be a foil wrapped chocolate Santa while all the other numbers have a foil wrapped ball of chocolate.

You don't want to open your Santa on day 1 and then be left with only balls for the rest of your days. You save the best gift for last.

How can I peek??

You only do that with the wine Advent calendar!

Is this a thing?!?!? Because I need this.

 

[Disneylover99]

How can I peek??

It depends on what kind of calendar you have. If you don't want to break the perforations on the kid's chocolate calendars, you can usually open it up from the top or bottom of the box, and slide it out to see what's under each number.

 

[QueenIsabella]

How can I peek??




Is this a thing?!?!? Because I need this.

Aldi's had them this year. I understand they sold out in minutes. They were $70. I'm thinking next year, they'll order more, it was so popular. I had told DD23 to get one and put it on my credit card, as a little gift for her (she lives 800 miles away). I doubt she got one, so I might make her a Christmas tree-shaped one out of toilet paper tubes, and put a nip inside each tube. She's a teacher, a little something to get her through December would come in handy.

 

[MrsCobraBubbles]

Some of the ones I had in the past had a larger door with a larger item in number 24 as this was the item to be opened Christmas Eve Day, December 24. Or the older ones that just had religious pictures under each flap, had the scene of the birth of Jesus under #24.

Interestingly, Advent isn’t always Dec 1-24. Some calendars used to have the actual days involved, some starting earlier and some later than Dec 1, though the ones I commonly see today have standardized on Dec 1-24.

I was married to a Catholic for 14-ish years and by the Catholic calendar, Advent is the 4 sundays before Christmas. So this year, Advent begins on December 2.