For some, holiday traditions might start by finally turning on the Christmas music, putting up the tree, or caving to a Starbucks peppermint mocha.
But my tradition begins by spending three dollars at Trader Joe’s.
For those who don’t know, Trader Joe’s is home to the best one-dollar advent calendars. The chocolate behind each door is the perfect kind of waxy, and the art on the rectangular box is a little too quirky (last year’s featured illustrated llamas in Santa hats).
But I’m not in it for the chocolate.
My mom, brother, and I have enjoyed these advent calendars for years, gathering together at the kitchen table to open the day’s door at the same moment to reveal what shape the chocolate will take that day.
But that was too easy. We couldn’t just open the doors and eat the chocolate. We had to guess what shape the chocolate would be.
The tradition officially became competitive when we started keeping a log of everyone’s guesses (correct and incorrect). We all knew that Day One’s chocolate would be in the shape of a candle. Over the years, this had proven to almost always be true. But most of the other shapes behind the little doors were less predictable. In this way, the thrill was real. Sometimes, though, the answer wasn’t clear cut. One year, after much deliberation, we had to concede that the mysterious chocolate behind door number six could only be one thing: a UCO (unidentified Christmas object).
And on day 24, what did the person with the most correct guesses win? Their name would forever adorn the folder of loose, lined papers documenting our wins and losses over the years. In other words: complete respect.
While the three of us live separately now, the competition is still as fierce as ever. Last year, my mom and brother were tied for first place until we came across a chocolate that sparked much controversy. No one could agree on what it was supposed to look like. The winner hinged on this determination. With the scores so close, we emailed Trader Joe’s corporate to clarify. Turns out, according to Blair from Customer Relations, nobody had the correct answer; the chocolate was supposed to look like a bell with a bow around it (spoiler: it didn’t).
While this year’s competition will include several Zoom conferences in order to crown a new victor, that won’t stop us. And I have Blair’s email address at the ready, just in case.
