In today’s video I’m sharing what we’re doing for advent calendars and our kids’ December boxes for 2025. I’m a homeschooling mom to two girls (13 and 16), and over the years our December boxes have shifted a bit. I used to give them on Christmas Eve with pajamas and movie-night snacks, but now that the girls are older I give the boxes on December 1st so they can actually use everything all month long. I also used to make our advent calendars with mini stockings and little surprises, but life has been busy, so lately we’ve been buying pre-made advent calendars that the girls pick out themselves. I show Lydia’s Minecraft gingerbread house kit and her succulent building-block advent, plus Bella’s Sour Patch Kids cookie house and charm bracelet advent. Then I walk through both themed December boxes (Nightmare Before Christmas for Lydia and Corpse Bride for Bella), including cozy loungewear, fuzzy socks, bonnets, rainy-day puzzles, ornaments, and a book for each girl—because I always include a book. I also share how I budget these boxes so the spend is similar even if the item count isn’t exactly the same.