Arwen, I feel your pain.  When I was a child we waited until Christmas Eve to put up our tree and then Santa would decorate it for us.  My husband can’t contain himself, so we wait until the weekend before.  My older two (11 and 13) have learned to stop asking for early Christmas decorations.  I put up some things, but remove red and green ribbons and supplement with purple.  I fill a huge glass vase with tiny purple glass balls and intermingle a few pink.  A big purple bow goes onto the front door wreath until Christmas Eve.  And then after Christmas, I usually leave out anything that is simply “Snowman” related, so the house doesn’t feel so empty.  Good luck!

I agree—we have been doing that for years, and our children are now used to our counter-culteral ways! Even our grade-school has finally gotten the hint, and now has an Advent concert—in Advent! (instead of a Christmas concert in Advent).

Concerning hearing the music in stores and seeing all the sights…it really used to bug me, until I realized my negative attitude towards it all was rubbing off on my kids and everytime we saw early decorations, they complained about it. Now instead, I focus on being silent about it-and when possible, praying for those who have put up the decorations and/or must listen to the Christmas music all day long. Imagine if that were your job, and you were trying not to get ahead of yourself for Christmas—I would imagine those who work in retail ARE very tired of it by Christmas morning!

Arwen,

We made many of the same changes this year. We put our tree up yesterday but it will stay bare until Christmas Eve when the kids will decorate and turn on the lights.

For the music, I’m doing the same, but I just got a cd by Andrew Peterson called “Behold the Lamb of God: The True Tall Tale of the Coming of Christ”.  It’s the journey from Creation to the coming of Christ, and it’s absolutely moving (and fun in some sense; my little ones are really taken with it.)

Peace.

Hi Arwen,If you are interested in some good advent music to play check out the Magdalen College Choir’s CD, “On Jordan’s Bank”.  Music can really set the mood. Good Luck!

I love that Andrew Peterson cd.  I’m not so good at keeping things in the right liturgical season… I listen to it year round!

More links to advent music, please!

It’s harder to keep Christmas out of Advent the years we leave town before Christmas Day. The years we travel after Christmas Day, we do a much better job.

I like this internet radio station for advent music.

http://www.live365.com/stations/robfens 
The blurb states
“Classic choral and organ works, featuring music for the Advent season. An Xmas-Free Zone until Christmas Eve!”

When I was growing up, we always put up our decorations and such on Gaudete Sunday since that gave us plenty of time to enjoy it all before Epiphany and it fit pretty well liturgically.  My husband doesn’t like to wait so long (especially if we will be out of town for Christmas; then we really miss a lot of time enjoying our own decorations), but I am trying to keep Advent better this year too.  I did manage to make a Jesse tree (it went faster than I thought and my 2 year old likes the simple versions of the stories each day) and we are aiming to do a family rosary each day as well.  There is a book of an Advent scriptural rosary novena that is a great meditation and aid to keeping the real Advent season in mind, so we are using that. (The Salvation Novena by Larry London)  Also, my mom just gave us a book called Advent of the Heart by Alfred Delp, SJ.  It is a collection of his sermons and secret prison writings from his time imprisoned by the Nazis.  He was determined to use that time as a personal Advent to prepare for the coming of Christ that he knew would happen for him whenever the Nazis ended his life.  I’m not very far yet, but it looks like an excellent book.

November is usually such a non-fun month for us that we’re itching to put up decorations as soon as possible, so we put up our tree the day after Thanksgiving. It doesn’t have any ornaments, though, just some lights (this is partly because our three-year-old is more than capable of destroying ornaments at lightning speed, but the symbolism is nice as well). As for Advent-related music, I can’t think of any specific Advent-only CDs, but Joel Cohen’s Boston Camerata recordings (American Christmas, Renaissance Christmas - I love that one in particular - and so forth) tend to be divided up chronologically, so you can just listen to the first half or so of the CD until Christmas itself arrives).

Yes, retail employees do get pretty sick of Christmas music by Christmas!  Especially now that Christmas marketing starts Nov 1, if not earlier.

We hang our Jesse tree ornaments on our little Christmas tree with purple/blue lights, and change them for regular ornaments and white lights on Christmas day.  The main tree gets decorated on the 4th Sunday of Advent, usually,

When David and I were making the looooooong trip down to Georgia for Thanksgiving, we “cheated” a little bit and listened to the Christmas music stations on satellite radio.  (If someone can explain to me how it can be so difficult to find good music on satellite radio even though there are so many music stations, I’d be much obliged!)  I was so sad when the announcer would come on the air and declare, “You’re listening to Holiday Traditions—traditional Christmas music, right up to Christmas Day!”  They get the entire thing completely backward!

In years past, we would have put up our tree already, or would be planning to put it up this weekend.  This year, inspired by your plan during our visit, I’m determined to wait!

Ellen & Aimee,
Thanks so much for those advent cd suggestions!

I have spent only a few Advents since our marriage not being pregnant. As an expectant mother, Advent is always easier for me. I clearly see that I can’t truly celebrate the birth of my baby until that baby is born. So I have to wait. I, see too, that I can’t celebrate Jesus’ birth until He is born. I have to wait. When I look at what I do to prepare for my own children’s births—cleaning, special cooking, making something for the baby (a blanket, etc.) and making myself and my home peaceful and ready, I can always see Advent more clearly. I can’t do it all today and it doesn’t need to be all done today, nor do I have to wait until His birthday to do it. The Church in Her wisdom, helps us to prepare for the new Christ baby a week at a time. I take it slowly, especially during pregnancy, and find that the small changes I make in the house and in my heart throughout Advent help me and my family to take it slowly, too.

Hi Ladies,

Wow, this is the first time that I’ve made it to chat before well into the evening, and ages since I’ve left a comment, but we have been busy with our newborn daughter for the last 4 weeks, what an awesome blessing at this time in our lifes. She is our fourth and first daughter. I am really enjoying her and appreciating God’s wonderful plan for our family in sending her to us. I think I am starting to understand Humanae Vitae in a new way as my family expands.

Just wanted to say thanks to the Mom who left the information about St. Nicholas Center, I got some great ideas about celebrating his feast day and have decided to keep Santa where he belongs this year and really focus on Christ with the kids on Christmas.

I love Advent, and really try to celebrate the rich traditions of our Catholic faith by doing the feast days up big during this season. We are going to attempt midnight Mass this year and I am so excited, as are the kids.

On a less happy note , I ask your prayers for our family at this time, my husband got layed off on Thursday and will be looking for a new job in the new year. He got a severance pkg. so it should carry us for a while, but it has really brought to mind all of those who have lost their jobs in the States and here in Canada.

I was wondering if I might be so bold as to suggest that perhaps those that are doing a family Rosary during this Advent season that they pray for all those that are unemployed by this economic downturn.

We see this as an opportunity to discern the next step in our Family’s journey toward God and how fitting that it comes at a time of preparing our hearts for His coming. We will be praying for you all.

Oh, wanted to ask if anybody does a Las Posadas Celebration in their home or Parish, I was given this wonderful Catholic tradition by an older homeschooling Mom in our parish but it was in English and called Seeking Shelter, it is reallly fun way to experience the last nine days before Christmas, I will scan and place here later.
peace

Waiting in Loving Anticipation,
Kamala

We do all of our Christmas decorating on Pink Sunday—that gives me enough time, plus it seems appropriate since it is “joyful” Sunday. My spiritual “mommy” and mentor does this, and I picked up the tradition from her family.

I, too, have been trying to focus more on Advent this year.  I love Christmas music, but I decided not to play it during Advent this year.  I spent a couple of hours on Sunday at the OCP and Spirit and Song websites and downloaded songs for Advent and created my own CD, since I was not able to find an Advent-exclusive one.  I love it, and it has a lot of different musical genres as well.

Mary Beth, would you be willing to share your playlist?  I’ve been working on putting one together, as well, but have had a hard time finding enough recordings of Advent songs.  Thanks!

For those have lost their faith or for someone that is an unbeliever, could not the stores than play Christmas music and having Christmas decoration be a “sacred space” and the secular movies “It is a wonderful life” and “scrooge” be used by God to touch their hearts? 

I think we need to remember that anything can be an offering to God if done in the right spirit- even our modern Christmas. God was born in world - in a stable - in order to embrace and redeem all of creation! I believe what is really under attack is that idea that there is anything about life worth celebrating at all and being joyful.

We need to keep reminding ourselves that the reason we are trimming the tree and having parties and making presents because Christ is born and we’re celebrating it! 

So, I decided this year, that instead of being frustrated and angry by the Christmas music and commercialism and Merry Christmas greetings during Advent to let that joy and peace at the heart of all Christmas trappings transform MY countenance. 

Every time I see Christmas decoration or Chrismas music, I will take it as a moment to pray that they will be used God to touch the hard-hearted or unchurched.  I will make it a point to smile at people and to respond to the clerk telling me to have a “Happy Holidays.” “Thank-you and Merry Christmas, you too!” I will work to not be too stressed to celebrate Christ’s birth with JOY.