Chat with Deb—Advent Calendar Time!

Why are the nuns bringing sewing kits to the stable?

Jack Herlocker
3 min readDec 4, 2023
The advent calendar, fully assembled at the end of a previous Advent. (all photos by author)

Deb got a reusable Advent calendar from her parents years ago. It has figures and objects from the Nativity, hand-cut and hand-painted. It finishes the day before Christmas, so besides providing an Advent countdown it also is a Nativity on Christmas. All neat, proper, and respectful.

And then I came into the family.

ME: <adding item #24> There! The space visitor with the baby in the disposable diaper goes next to the guy in the space helmet.

DEB: <sighing> Yes, dear.

ME: Now we know where the guys with the Christmas presents are going. We know that they have Christmas presents because they have Christmas wrapping.

Crowns. Christmas presents. And bathrobes. (Hey, did Jesus get screwed out of birthday presents as a kid because his birthday always fell on Christmas? That seems unfair.)

DEB: Three kings, honey. They have crowns.

ME: And they can see the poor confused pigs in the Jewish stable.

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Jack Herlocker
Jack Herlocker

Written by Jack Herlocker

Husband & retiree. Developer, tech writer, & IT geek. I fill what’s empty, empty what’s full, and scratch where it itches. Occasionally do weird & goofy things.