'Tis! Advent is a time of hopeful waiting and reflection and relaxing. It's called the Quiet/Still Time ("Staade Zeit"), and we do a bit of shopping at open-air markets and chilling, but there's no commercial frenzy.

The Christmas trees stay outside until Christmas Eve, when we bring them in and turn the lights on, after dinner. The men do that, in a different room, while the women keep the little children occupied, elsewhere, and the Christkind brings the presents and puts them under the tree. Then the Christkind mysteriously rings a bell, and the men rush in, to tell the children that the Christkind *just left*, and then they walk in and see the tree and the presents and the plate of cookies that the Christkind was too busy to eat and are like wow 👀

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That is awesome. I am still try to figure out some advent traditions for my family. I can't quite do the put up the tree the day after Halloween thing. Might put it up undecorated this weekend.

Well, we have the Advent wreath and lights and calendars, and little hand-carved nativity scenes and things, before. It already looks very "Christmassy", but the tree is the highlight. Also, the tree has to last to at least Epiphany, and the heating would destroy it, if you put it up, too early.

They used to actually hang the trees from the ceiling. My mom said they did it because the houses were too small, to put them on the floor. Like this.