It's Tween Tuesday with Liz Atwood:

I'm searching for advent calendar -- the kind where each day from Dec. 1 to Dec. 24 you open a number and find a piece of chocolate candy. 

The Giant where I have bought them in the past isn't carrying them this year, they tell me. I have a felt one, which has you pull out a little ornament each day, but the 8-year-old wants a calendar with chocolate. "It has the best chocolate in the world," he declared the other day.

So, even though it's already Dec. 8, I'm still searching for the right kind of advent calendar because as parents, it seems we always want to give the kids their holiday wishes.

It's interesting what holiday traditions children hold fast to and which they let go of as they grow. The community sing-along and arrival of Santa Claus have been forgotten. My kids are happy to let me put up the lights and decorate the tree. Who would have thought the candy advent calendar would be one of those traditions we continue?

Perhaps my son inherits my Christmas wishes. For nearly 30 years my mother gave me a calendar towel at Christmas, and after she died I bought one for myself to keep the tradition alive. I can imagine that when my son is my age, I'll still be searching for the chocolate advent calendars.

What holiday traditions do your tweens refuse to let go of as the years pass? Are you developing new ways of celebrating as they grow older?

Photo: Mark DuFrene/Contra Costa Times/MCT