It seems every year when Christmas comes around a new tradition is born. But how much is too much?

In the last three or four years alone I can think of at least three new things that have appeared, Elf On The Shelf, The Christmas Eve Box, Family matching pyjamas. I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve done every single one of these though I REALLY wish I never started The Elf! This year I’ve noticed a huge rise in novelty advent calendars. I’m not talking the ones with a piece of chocolate behind each door. I’m talking, Lego, Playmobil, Happy Land and many more, each one packed with a new toy or figures.

It’s got me thinking, is it all getting a bit much? I mean I can see the benefit if you’ve a child with allergies such as dairy or nuts, however, these calendars don’t come cheap and I worry that children are going to start going to school comparing what they’ve had each day and I wonder when the simple piece of chocolate that we all adored in our generation isn’t going to be enough?

This isn’t a judgy post, last year my lovely Mum bought our children the Lego ones and they loved creating their scene, but they also had a chocolate one too and I did think we had gone a bit overboard.

Here’s a quick round-up of what’s on the market and how much they cost.

The average price for one of these calendars is roughly £20 meaning if you have two children you’re looking at £40/50 in total just for advent. If you put that into the cost of Christmas it all adds up.

Every year I make my Mum a home made advent calendar with a small gift placed inside numbered knitted Santa hats, this year I’m going to make one for us too. We have an old style wooden one with drawers. I plan to put cute messages inside some drawers and chocolate coins in others. I feel like it’s time we went back to basics. I’m still doing the Christmas Eve box though, its tradition for us to get our new pj’s on and watch a Christmas DVD and it’s also our little man’s birthday!

What do you guys think, are we putting too much pressure on ourselves at an already busy and expensive time of year? What are your plans for this year’s advent? Or do you enjoy all the new traditions popping up and think that it helps bring the magic of Christmas together?

I’d love to hear your views and if anyone has any ideas for items I can put inside our small drawers please do let me know!

PS… did you hear there are grown-up versions? Gin and Yankee Candles! Just sayin’ 😉

Have a look at some alternative advent calendar ideas on our Pinterest board here