Never heard of blogmas? Well, it is our take on Youtube trend ‘Vlogmas’ where fantastically festive snippets are shared every day in December, right up to Christmas Eve.
Over the next 24 days we will be following the reporters as they prepare for Christmas with their families.
Expect an overload of tinsel, food, glitter and St Nick!
As today is December 1, people across the country will this morning open the first window in their advent calendars.
But here in the office there is a divide.
Fiona insists on tradition, which means a festive scene with a pretty picture behind each window.
Meanwhile Amanda, Joseph and myself all prefer a chocolate one — in my opinion a little bite of chocolate each morning is the perfect way to start the day!
All the major sweetie companies make several different calendars and then there are the ones aimed specifically at children and feature popular TV characters.
And it doesn’t stop there.
There are toy ones with a Lego or Playmobil piece each day, make up ones featuring mascara, lippy or nail varnish and even candle ones with a seasonal scented votive hidden behind each window.
My son even has a ‘DIY’ one which his grandparents fill each year — last year’s haul included pants, socks, sweeties, small toys and even a mini bottle of gin for mummy!
The non-chocolate variety seems much harder to come by, but I do love the nostalgia of a traditional advent calendar.
They always remind me of my Christmas-loving grandfather who loved to get one with a beautiful winter scene, even though he had to use his super-duper magnifying glass to look at it because his eyesight was so poor.
When I had sleepovers at their house in December he would always let me open the window in the morning.
And I was just as excited this morning when we all had a piece of chocolate and my son also received a Paw Patrol toy . . . mummy is hoping there will be another bottle of gin to unwrap in the next few weeks!
