Advent Calendar...in a box

I bought this box a couple of years ago on a clearance sale after Christmas while Bruce and I were on one of our travels.  I don't even remember where...    This was the first year that I had gotten it out.  There are 24 little drawers in which you can put little presents, one for each day of December until you get to Christmas morning.   And when I say little, I mean little...I hadn't really thought about it ahead of time too much, but when I was trying to think of things and buy things to put in each drawer, it's not easy to find something that small.  There are small chocolate Santas, gummi Xmas Tree Crabby Patties, little lip glosses, Christmas stampers, etc.  

Being the first year that we've done this, I wasn't sure how exactly to handle it.  Allison is 6 years old...and still learning patience and waiting etc.    I didn't want to put the day's present in the drawer that day, as it would be very easy to forget, etc.   So, I loaded all 24 days' worth of presents, and hoped for the best.   I wasn't sure if Allison would peek ahead of time, etc.

So, the first day that I showed her the box, we talked about the fact that there were presents in all of the drawers and she could open one  drawer a day and when she got to the 24th drawer then it would be Christmas.  I encouraged her NOT to peek ahead of time, because surprises are fun, and if she looked ahead of time, she would know what they were ahead of time, and the surprise would be gone.  

By, golly, she GOT IT!  It is day13 today and she has been faithful of opening her daily drawer first thing in the morning, and has not looked or peeked ahead!  I'm really proud of her.  She isn't even acting like she is tempted.  Not really planned, this is an excellent addition to the lesson in waiting and patience...:)