Advent Travel Book of Oma and Opa
Christmas is just around the corner and, we have some holiday cheer we would like to share with our readers. We’ve added a page to our blog called ‘The Advent Book of Oma and Opa’, you can get to it by clicking ‘Christmas Around the World’ or under ‘Advent’ at the top of the page. In the Advent book you will find interesting stories about how the holiday is celebrated in different countries around the world. These make perfect night time stories for the family when gathered around the tree. We will be posting a new story each day from December 1st thru December 24th. So make sure to check back everyday for our new story. What’s more is we are giving away wonderful gifts at the end of the month! In order to qualify, simply leave a comment letting us know what you and/or your children think about our holiday stories. Readers will receive one entry per story commented on. Tweet: @BabyKicksUSA Advent Holiday Stories with this link about our stories and you will receive 1 additional entry for each day you tweet. We are happy to share and spread holiday cheer, and we hope you will help us!
Comments will close on December 31st & Winners will be drawn on January 1st. Only a few days left to enter! Good Luck!
We have our Holiday Gift Winners! Congratulations! Claim your prize by January 3rd by emailing gina@babykicks.com. Happy New Year!
Here are your random numbers:
85 61 53
Timestamp: 2010-01-02 03:29:20 UTC
#85 Kym said: Day 8 United Arab Emirates, if you asked my husband what pops into his head when you say this countries name, I can guarantee the first thing he will say will be sand a lot of sand! He used to work there and he saw a lot of sand, but I had never thought about the camels and the 3 wise men! Now I am thinking of it in a completely different way! Dec 23, 4:29 AM
#61 Nisha said: We love these!!! Thank you!! Dec 22, 3:24 AM
#53 Stephanie said: Sweden- interesting traditions. Except for the fish chowder 
Dec 21, 4:45 PM
.jpg)
This is great! I like reading your stories to my son before bed. And I like learning about how all the different cultures celebrate. Good posts!
Fabulous idea! I especially loved the Dutch story on Dec 6th as I am Dutch myself from origin. It is lovely to read what other countries do at the same time as us. Isn’t it amazing how we all have our own traditions?
Oh, I loved the story on Germany just because it is so familiar. My father is German and we grew up with all those lovely traditions including celebrating the 4 Sundays of Advent and they wonderful Pyramids that spin around. Now we have our own pyramid and my 2 year old LOVES it!
I had a chuckle about the Maldives story. I read on Twitter that the Maldives was the country for today and didn’t get to check it out straight away. I did try to think about it myself though, wondering what kind of Christmas celebration they would have there. When I finally got to read todays story I had a laugh when I found out the thought behind it. Good thinking and lovely way of explaining it to kids!
I moved out of The Netherlands 3 years ago and used to live really close to Belgium. After reading your Belgium advent story I felt sad I never went there at Christmas time to try the roasted chestnuts. I did eat them in The Netherlands though, I went picking them with my siblings when I was a child. You need your parents to help you open them as they are so prickly and spikey. You can eat them raw too but they are very bitter so roasted is much nicer. I told my kids all about that thanks to this story, if it wasn’t for you I would have forgotten all about it!
That’s really interesting about Germany, I didn’t realize the similarities we had. My family on my dad’s side is of partial German decent lol. I think it would be fun to go to other countries around this time of the year to personally see how they do it
I had to laugh at the Slovenia one, the bears made me chuckle(quietly as baby’s asleep lol). Its interesting about the possible connection to cavemen in the way the Slovenians celebrate. I love this, I’m a history person and always love learning more, thank you for posting these!
I like the Portugal one! I’d love to stay up that late and open presents right as Christmas started, I’d just not want to eat the fish from the feast of Christmas Eve lol.
Fantastic story on Sweden. I have a few friends in Sweden but I had no idea about St. Lucia! Such a different celebration than our Christmas. It sounds really magical with the singing and the dresses. I had to have a google to see images for myself so I could imagine it a bit better. This was the best image I could find: click here She looks like a fairy tale doesn’t she?
I’ve often wondered where the idea of decorating a tree came from, but never imagined it was created that long ago!
Tweet! http://twitter.com/JacobsenFamily/status/6687934685
I wonder why only the men and boys dress up in Slovenia? What do the women and girls do?
Like the Portuguese, our family also enjoys playing games Christmas evening… Such a fun tradition! I bet my kids (most kids actually!) would love to stay up until midnight Christmas Eve to open their presents!
Seeing Santa’s all over the city sounds like so much fun!
I was not aware that all of the Chestnut trees here in America had died! I’d love to try a roasted Chestnut! Sounds delish!
Seems crazy to think you could drive across an entire country in just 20 minutes!
Would love to try the slovakian Opekance soup, might have to look for a recipe!
http://twitter.com/JacobsenFamily/status/6721108783
http://twitter.com/JacobsenFamily/status/6748287966
It’s interesting how many of our American Christmas traditions originated in Britain.
How fun to be in Belgium and wait to hear that knock at the door and a big bag of gifts!! So exciting!
Oops, meant the Netherlands on that last one! =}
How neat that in Croatia they scatter straw and hay to look like the manger. Downside would be the mess to clean up though!
I wonder what those in the Emirates who DO celebrate Christmas do? I wonder if they have created their own special traditions?
Greece- How fun to have a gold coin in the cake which gives good fortune… Makes eating cake much more exciting!! =)
Neat to hear about the reason behind a New Years Resolution. I’d love to try that pasta sauce too!!
I’ve never heard of The Maldive Islands before, but a vacation there sounds wonderful! How fun to swim with sharks and sea turtles!
I didn’t realize that advent was a German tradition. That is really cool!
Love the bear costumes from Slovenia! Those must look really neat!
Wow! I wouldn’t be able to stay awake to eat that late in Portugal. I think I would fall asleep!
I have always wanted to try chestnuts because of that one Christmas song. (can’t remember the name) I didn’t know that only Europe had edible chestnuts.
I had never heard of those 3 small countries. Thanks for posting this!
I LOVE ginger nuts! They are a favourite Christmas tradition here!
We’re celebrating Advent for this first time this season, it’s wonderful! These stories will make a great addition!
I tweeted: http://twitter.com/BabyKicksUSA/status/6807078201
I scrolled down through the different countries to find Slovakia, which is where my husband’s family is from. I can totally identify with the “Cabbage Soup” (we call it “Sour Soup”). It is a total tradition for us to have for Christmas dinner. It’s nice to have traditions, and something to pass down to my kids about their ancestory.
Jen
I love how in Spain they also put shoes out just like in Holland. How amazing that they fill them up for the camels and Dutch kids fill them for the horse of Sinterklaas. I never knew about the swinging.
I have always wanted to visit London around Christmas time as I love the old movies like ‘a Christmas carol’. I really appreciate it when a tradition is being held on to, very special for kids to grow up with. How amazing too that Christmas cards were sent first in England! I somehow never thought about it that one country would have started that tradition.
I loved your description of France. I have a lot of friends who have a French heritage & didn’t even know everything you described.
The French Christmas traditions sound like a lot of fun! I’d like to try their Christmas Log cake!
I think it’s interesting that in Spain they give gifts in January on the Three Kings day instead of on Christmas. I suppose it makes sense if you think about it though.
tweeted: https://twitter.com/chalcedonia/status/6818725164
My mom’s side of the family is German. I love the Christmas pyramids!
SLOVENIA - the pronunciation of the name of the town is hilarious! That’s interesting about the bears.
PORTUGAL - That is very interesting about Consoda.
BELGIUM - One of my neighbors is from Belgium. I’ll have to ask her about the chestnuts. Those sound delicious!
VATICAN CITY - Wow, I knew that it was small, but I didn’t realize it was THAT small.
The Netherlands - It’s neat to know where our idea of Santa Claus originated.
Croatia - That’s a neat idea to use the sweet smelling straw/hay in the house.
United Arab Emirates - I have some neighbors who lived there for a few years. They said it was very hot and dry and a culture shock to them.
Greece - I was born in Greece (dad stationed there in the army). I’ll have to ask my parents what they remember of the traditions. The coin in the cake reminds me of the baby figurine in the King Cake (Louisiana).
Italy - The special sauce for Christmas sounds good. Maybe I’ll have to work on inventing a Christmas pizza!
Maldives - Sounds beautiful. That does sound like a nice getaway for the winter.
Poland- Wow, 14 dishes for the dinner. I bet it all delicious!
Sweden- interesting traditions. Except for the fish chowder
Switzerland - mmm, the ringli and hot chocolate sound good!
Slovakia -some of my family is from there. I wonder if any of them still prepare the traditional yummy pastries & baked goods that sound so good.
Great Britain - so that is where fruit cake originated.
Spain - That’s a neat tradition of swinging to encourage the sun to swing higher in the sky.
FRANCE - That is neat that Pere Noel leaves the toys in their shoes and sweets, fruit, nuts and small toys on the tree.
Hungary - we would fit in well there, we love spicy food!
Bosnia-Herzegovina - We hope this area finds peace once again.
We love these!!! Thank you!!
The Fijian Christmas sounds awesome! I want a coconut flavored turkey.
Having a Christmas tree for only a few days is sad though.
It sounds like Ukraine like Holiday parties with their doubling up on New Years and Christmas!
I’d like to see one of the nativity plays in Hungary. I don’t know if I could handle the spicy food though!
tweet: https://twitter.com/chalcedonia/status/6930019628
The German Christmas traditions sound familiar! My family has German heritage and we grew up having Advent Sundays.
The Mardi Gras like celebration is Slovenia sounds like fun. I’d like to go see the bear parade.
I had no idea that Germany is where the celebrate the Advent Sundays. I did that as a child with my family [er…well I’m the one who came up with it and enforced it really lol]. I hope to do it when my kids are older and understand it more.
Plus it’s fun to know it’s a German tradition since my husband is part German himself.
I think Belgium should ship some of the eatable Chestnuts over to us! I would love to try some roasted Chestnuts. They sound delicious!
I love the Croatia tradition of making your kitchen smell like the manger. The simplicity of the beautifully decorated red heart sounds nice too
I love the idea of all these stories being available to us. Thanks! I am bookmarking this for later perusal as well, to finish out the season! yeah!
How fun that in the bigger cities of Ukraine they celebrate Christmas and New Year’s twice. But I have to say that’s A LOT of cooking and baking!!!!
Tweet:
http://twitter.com/szogediek/status/6938225005
Thank you so much for taking the time to share all of this. How wonderful to read about so many different Christmas traditions as well as the roots of our own traditions. I have much reading to catch up on since I just found this site today through The Cloth Diaper Whisperer. I hope to see Ireland’s traditions posted too.
Amanda G.
What a great idea! Too bad I didn’t find this until tonight. The stories are great though! It was interesting to ready day 1 and learn that the word ADVENT means “He is coming.”
How interesting that turkeys in Fiji taste like coconut!
Two Christmases and two New Year’s each year in Ukrainian cities? Wow! That’s craziness!
Day 1 Although I have visited Germany and at Christmas I never knew that it was Germany who started decorating the trees! I did know that they have beautiful decorations as I have seen stores filled with them while I was there but unable to purchase any as they would have been broken on our travels.
Day 2 What a great story about Solvenia! I never knew that! It would be something fantastic to see the huge parade, it is a gorgeous country it makes me want to go back!
Day 3 I loved the Portugal story, I can understand why they eat so late as it can be so hot in Portugal most of the year and it isn’t unusual that you have dinner that late, it is good when the restaurants are still open! I love that they set a place for their passed family, what a great way to honor them!
Day 4 I love the Belgium story too! I would love to see them jumping from apartments to apartments!! How amazing, and I am not surprised they would make delicious Chestnuts as they make delicious chocolate!
Day 5 How amazing it would be to be in the Vatican City at Christmas, it is amazing when empty but I could just imagine the spirit and energy when full! I would love to see the little Italian village, it sounds so homely!
Day 6, Oh wow! what a fantastic story! I think I like this one the best! I have been to the Netherlands but in summer and it was a wonderful experience but I would just love to spend a evening experiencing this tradition it would be amazing!
Day 7 Croatia is a fantastic place and I can imagine the friendly people having the big feasts with family and friends, I would love to join in!
Day 8 United Arab Emirates, if you asked my husband what pops into his head when you say this countries name, I can guarantee the first thing he will say will be sand a lot of sand! He used to work there and he saw a lot of sand, but I had never thought about the camels and the 3 wise men! Now I am thinking of it in a completely different way!
Day 9 Greece, while traveling in Greece a large family gathering was everywhere we went and lots of jovial people, I love their boat tradition and I would love to experience the feast!
Day 10, I can definitely vouch for the Maldives being beautiful! We were lucky enough to get a stop over for a couple of days on the way home many years ago and I could have stayed for a lot, lot longer! The water is just the perfect temperature and the traditional food it amazing!A great place to spend Christmas!
Whoops! Got the days around the wrong way! Day 10 Italy! I would love some of that Christmas Pasta, sounds yum! I love the fact about January, I think that is so cool!
Day 12 Poland! We have Polish friends and the feast is a feast for all the senses! The smells are amazing! and the tastes, it such a wonderful thing when you see every family member there together.
Day 13, I would love to experience the Sweden singing, it sounds magical!
Day 14 Switzerland sounds like a fantastic experience, I love how they walk through the streets singing songs, in the cobbled streets it would wonderful to hear.
Day 15 I love how they have garlic on the table in Slovakia to ward of evil.
Day 16 I never knew that Christmas Cards were first sent in Great Britain, I know they also love their Christmas Pudding.
Day 17 I love the idea that the shoes are filled with straw and barley in Spain and then in the morning presents are there. It is kind of like the carrot we leave out which is gone in the morning and presents are there.
Day 18, Ah France, how I love, we! I now know where the Christmas Log has come from! I had thought where did that come from last year!
Day 19, I could imagine the anticipation the children would have waiting to see the tree all lit up, the excitement would be infectious! How proud you would be when it is your turn to be the parent and get to see your children’s faces light up!
Day 20 We have visited Bosnia-Herzegovina and all I can say is these people are strong and are determined to get their country back to the beautiful way it was. Some people don’t have much and I to hope they have a blessed Christmas and in the years to come their country will re-build.
Day 21, I have never been to Fiji but the blooming Poinsettia’s are a site to behold in the southern hemisphere and I wonder what coconut turkey tastes like? Coconuty! lol!
Day 22 I would love to see Father Frost and Snowflake Girl in the Ukraine, it sounds like a wonderful tradition to behold.
I LOVE the idea of celebrate Christmas and New Year’s twice like some do in the Ukraine! Also the Snowflake Girl sounds like something really fun for little girls to try to dress up as for the holidays. She even has a crown!
Thanks for sharing all the holiday stories
I’d like all the pastries that the Slovaks traditionally have! I’d gain a ton of weight though!
tweet: https://twitter.com/chalcedonia/status/6969095738
The Swiss Christmas traditions all sound very beautiful with all the bells, parades and singing.
Santa Lucia Day in Sweden sounds awesome. It must seem so mysterious especially to the little children when all the lights go out and Santa Lucia enters the house.
Christmas is so fun here in the USA! I loved reading the Night Before Christmas as a child.
Day 23!! I love love the Night Before Christmas, it gets me in the Christmas mood and always brings a smile to my face! Thanks for sharing it :)) It is great to know where it originated from.
Loved the Croatia story! My husband has severe allergies to straw & hay so this wouldn’t work in our house!
The wise men story about the Emirates was a cool idea. I wonder where the wise men came from?
That would be fun; having Christmas on two days! I would love to visit Greece!
I didn’t know new years’ resolutions came from Italy!
Oh! The story about the Maldives reminded me how much I would love to get away from the cold around here!
I love perogies! I didn’t realize that Polish people make that a tradition.
Very cool story from Sweden! I have always been fascinated by Swedish traditions.
Oh how I love Swiss chocolate! Very cool story!
The Slovakia traditional 12 dishes reminded me of the similar Ukrainian tradition from my husband’s side of the family.
I always wondered where fruit cake came from! That is cool about the Christmas cards!
I loved the story from Spain! Interesting about the swinging tradition. I like that they think of the three wise men as gift bearers.
I love the French tradition of displaying the nativity.
I didn’t realize that Hungary had spicy food!
What a sad, but hopeful story about Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Loved the story about Fiji! I never knew Poinsettia plants could get that large! I love the idea of a coconut turkey!
Great story about the Ukraine! I think that it is cool to have Christmas twice!
I really like the poem from the USA Christmas story! Very fun!
Silent Night is one of my favorite Christmas carols. That is really cool that it was arranged for guitar.
What a lovely advent calender! My family comes from Germany and I loved reading about the traditions. …actually, I loved reading about all the traditions. Glad I finally found this site, though it would have been more fun to read a little everyday. Thank you for the lovely posts.
Ah Austria, that was a great country to visit they have shops that are permanently for Christmas everyday of the year!
Fiji Islands - wow the poinsettias are HUGE there!
Ukraine - double Christmas & New Years sounds like fun!
USA - that’s neat to know the history of the Night Before Christmas.
Austria - Silent Night is one our of favorite Christmas songs.
I love love reading all these stories! It finally clicked in my head where our family traditions come from! We celebrate St. Nick!
My grandma is from Croatia so to read how they celebrate is great. However, my grandma makes povitca every christmas and it takes her days and days and the humidity in the house has to be exact for the povitca to come out correctly!
Fruitcake is so interesting! Glad to see how it actually came about!
I’m really liking the Fiji Islands story. I am thinking maybe we will try that next year! No snow but sand?! We would love it!
I LOVE the story of Austria and Silent Night. Silent Night has always been one of my favorite Christmas songs and it’s nice to know the story behind it. I like how they play it on guitar, it really does seem best fitting that way.
Thanks for all the history this Christmas season!