Christmas Tradition: Advent Angels

I love the Advent season and all of the excitement and reflection that comes with it. My family always focused on the meaning of the Advent season, and the special time leading up to Christmas! 

I can't remember when my family started the tradition of the Advent Angels, but it was always one of our favorites growing up. This tiny spiral bound book, The ABCs of Advent, sat in the middle of our Advent Wreath on the kitchen table, with daily reflections and activities to read and do as a family. If my memory is correct, my parents got the idea of the Advent Angels from this very book. 

Every week, we drew names and whoever we got, we were to be a secret Advent Angel for that person. Each Sunday, as we lit the candle for the week, we would all put our names on a small piece of paper and into a pile in the middle of the table. Snickering and making googly eyes and funny faces, my sisters and I would always laugh uncontrollably, trying to hide the name that we had drawn. By the time Christmas arrived, we all had the chance to be an angel for each person in our family of five. As a little Advent Angel, you just do nice things for the person you have for the week, usually once a day. My mom was always famous for fancy, crafty treats on our pillows at night and my dad liked to send Wizard of Oz postcards in the mail with nothing but a little angel outline drawn. I remember leaving glitter everywhere and I always thought it was the funniest thing to prep everyone's toothbrush for the night, ready and waiting by the sink. The point of the angel tradition was to take a few minutes out of our days to do something nice for someone in our family, even if it was a tiny yellow post-it note with a heart left on the bathroom mirror. 

This is another Nido family tradition that I adore!!