Parenting Guru: First came the kitchen angels

You have to stand on a chair to reach our top kitchen shelf. I do this the first day of every month while my young daughter watches, excited to see the next "angel of the month" figurine.

I don't normally purchase kitschy ceramics. Yet there was something fanciful about these circa 1950s angels with their gilt halos, coy smiles, and seasonal props (February offers a Valentine, October a mask, etc.).

I thought, what a fun way to teach a child about the calendar, seasons and holidays. I loved the idea of a monthly angel on our kitchen sill…and perhaps the set being used with my kid's kids some day.

I was actually jumping the gun. My angel collecting began in my 40s when my husband and I were still unhappily childless. For a long while, the angels just sat in storage.

Thankfully, three years ago we were blessed to adopt a beautiful baby girl. When Maya was two, the angels came out of storage.

She is three now, and loves them. Just last week, as the last days of summer shone through our kitchen, we had a lively discussion about why the September angel carries a school book.