So, you know those awesome Advent windows we do in our town every year? Well, they did them again this year. Unfortunately, or fortunately, we had so many other fun events and things going on, that we didn’t have a free night to attend an opening until the week before Christmas. And then we got to attend two!
The first was up at the Kindergarten. It was the first time in a LONG time, that we didn’t have an actual kindergartener participating, but we still knew several of the kids. In fact, our little neighbor, Amelie sang a duet and did a great job.
She’s the one on the right. Isn’t she a cutie?
Now, I have to be completely accurate in my record keeping here. There were other nights when we could have attended a window opening. But they don’t all have treats included, and that’s the best part for us. But the kindergarten one had a veritable feast provided.
Since our town is so small, everyone pretty much knows every one else. So there are always lots of people to chat with and kids to play with. But as much fun as we were having, it was very cold!
I don’t know if you can tell, but she had her sweatshirt hood on and her parka hood, and was still shivering. It was that cold. We got there after they had turned on the lights to the window, and the singing had already started. So we went back around to the front of the building to see the decorations on our way home. I think they did a great job!
Frau Meier, the teacher, said the kids didn’t really have any specific ideas beyond, “it needs to be as glittery as possible!”
We had dinner after we got back home, and Sophie’s little cheeks were still red from the cold for quite a while.
I think my favorite thing about these windows is the sense of community it gives me. It only works because enough people volunteer to do it. The woman who is in charge of organizing it all, really gives a lot of her time, and is there at every window opening, leading the carol singing. Plus, it replaces driving around in the car looking at all the Christmas lights, that we always did with my family growing up. Some years we went to fancy streets, where all the neighbors decked out their yards in a light show bright enough to rival Las Vegas. But more often, we just drove around aimlessly, looking at whatever lights we could see. It’s just one more thing my parents did to make Christmas time special and magical. So, this is our family’s answer to that. And I love it.