Santa is dead.

Dear strangers,

Please do not ask my children if Santa is coming to visit them. If you should violate that first rule, then please, when they answer, "No," to your question, do not insist they must be wrong. When they politely, but firmly, continue to deny that a fat bearded strange man will break into our house, please do not insist that then my wonderful Jewish children must have been very naughty. Otherwise, I may be forced to teach my children to then loudly announce, "No. We haven't been naughty at all. Lying to children, however, is very naughty."

And yes, they would recite that and, knowing my son, recite it loudly.

The reason for the season

This time of year, we tend to get overwhelmed by the crowds at the malls, the traffic, and the hectic nature of it all (we've barely been home since Chanukah started because we've been at so many different events).

So, this time of year especially, we feel it's very important to remember to give back.

Here's what we're doing this year:

We donated our old coats to our synagogue's mitten menorah. They asked for new or slightly used coats, mittens, scarves, etc. So that's where the outgrown coats went.

We donated bags and bags of clothes to a local Veterans organization. All my maternity clothes went there (fare thee well, old friends) along with a whole host of the kids' old clothes. They picked up about 5 big garbage bags of clothes.

Our kids give tzedakah at Sunday school, which, this month, is going to a local food pantry. They've given both money and cans of pasta sauce which they bought themselves with their allowance money (can't beat 25 cents a can).

In an attempt to simply, we instituted the rule that, for each new item, an old one must go. So, we're cleaning out toy and book bins and donating them to that same Veteran's group.

How about you? What are you doing this holiday season? How do you teach your kids to give back?

This blog post is written as part of the Twitter Moms Holiday blog prompt in association with Robeez.

Robeez will donate a pair of soft sole shoes to K.I.D.S. with every soft sole purchased through December 23rd

For anyone looking for a gift idea this holiday season, these are the Robeez I would love for my daughter.

Jewish Meme

Phyllis over there at Ima On (and Off) the Bima posted a Jewish Meme. I'll play along.

One menorah, or several?

Before we had kids, we had two--the beautiful silver one we picked out together after we were married and the electric one Bubbe gave us which we display in the window (see above). It doesn't fulfill the mitzvah, but the bulbs never die and it looks pretty in the window.

Then we had kids and those kids started attending religious school where, every year, they make new chanukiyot. They're cute enough, but they're unending.

Do you buy your children gifts for every night of Chanukah?

No, although they do get gifts for every night. Those gifts are just often provided by grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends. Oh and we prefer not to buy gifts at all. I love making as much as I can.

Do you and your spouse/partner or any other adults in your life exchange gifts?

We usually get gifts for our parents and we typically get a few things for each other. While that usually involves one fairly substantial gift, it often involves a few little things.

Special family chanukah traditions?

I don't know that we do anything particularly new or different.

Chanukah is one of the rare times the kids can have chocolate. They do so love chocolate gelt. So they get even more excited every Chanukah (and Purim which is another time they're allowed some of that lovely chocolately goodness) because they're allowed to have that. We light the plastic menorah in the window, but so do many others. We hang up whatever hand-made decorations have survived. We have a pretty cloth hanging that my oldest sister gave us which we always put up on the front door. Like I said, nothing very new/different.

Latkes or sufganiyot? If latkes, sour cream or applesauce?

Both, but I'm a bigger fan of latkes, but with nothing extra. No sour cream or applesauce for me, thankyouverymuch.

Favorite chanukah book?

One that does NOT play, "I have a little dreidle."

I can't find the book and I can't remember what holiday it was about, so it could be Chanukah, but I'm not certain. It's a children's book about a little Jewish girl in the city at a big party and there's a room where the adults can privately take or donate money. I really like that book.

As far as books whose titles I CAN remember and which I'm absolutely certain are actually about the correct holiday, I'd go with, "It's a Miracle! A Hanukkah Storybook" by Stephanie Spinner.

EDITED TO ADD:

I just remembered a book about the Shoah and a survivor and a potato that a friend got for my kids and I can never make it through that book without tearing up. Ugh. I can't find the book and searching online is proving to be useless. In the story, the grandmother (Rose?) is a survivor and each year, she repeats how she celebrated in the camps--she hollows out a potato and adds oil and string and lights it for Chanukah.

FOUND IT: One Candle by Eve Bunting.

Do you actually play dreidl? If so, what do you use for counters?

Yes we do. At home, we usually use animal crackers or pretzels. At the synagogue, they use M&Ms.

What relationship, if any, do you have with Christmas and all things Christmas-y?

We pretty much try to avoid anything Xmas-related. We even try to avoid the malls and all that jazz.

I do like to scour the ornament sales after Xmas to find cute ones that don't look at all like Xmas, though. There's nothing Jesusy about a pink glittery ballet slipper, but it does look awfully cute in my daughters' bedroom.

Oh and I do occasionally rewrite Xmas songs for my own amusement.

I don't know how many fellow yids I have as readers who haven't done this one yet. So if you haven't and you want to, consider yourself tagged.

I swear, my husband controls Twitter WITH HIS MIND.

My husband wants a new t.v. For those who have been following, you may remember that we don't have a television. We have what was once a television, but is now a glorified monitor. We cancelled cable to save money (and oh howdy, have we!) before the digital switch and, since then we've had nothing but blue screens. We weren't interested in a converter box because we fell out of the habit of watching television and we like it that way.

We do have game systems hooked up to there, though and my brilliant husband found PlayOn which allows us to stream Hulu and files saved on our computers through those game systems on to our t.v. which really isn't a t.v. anymore.

He made lots of trade-ins and sales on Craig's List so that he could afford a PS3. Now, he's dying for a new t.v. on which to play and watch movies. Our monitor which was once a t.v. is pretty old and very frill-less (which should be obvious from the fact that it wasn't capable of handling the digital switch). He's been doing his research and has found some great deals. When asked what we should do for each other for Chanukah, he informed me that all he really wants is a new t.v.

So, when I opened my mail and saw, "LCD TV Deals (TheLCDTVDeals) is now following your tweets on Twitter," I stuck my head out of the office and yelled, "This is YOUR fault." He was baffled and asked me, "How?" Honestly, I have no freaking clue, but this has to be his fault somehow. My best guess is that he's somehow controlling Twitter WITH HIS MIND.

That's it. That's gotta be it. There really is no other explanation, right? Who's with me? Anyone?

Parenting Dilema: What Would You Do?

My twins have a shared e-mail address. They really only use it for a select few friends and family members. We monitor it.

Girl2 recently sent an e-mail to her grandparents (dh's parents) asking when she could see them again (they live far away). Their grandma responded that maybe they could fly out for Chanukah and ended with, "Ask your daddy if that's okay, but don't tell anyone else."

Does anyone else have a problem with this?

I have a pretty good relationship with my in-laws. We're not best buds, but we get along pretty well. I'm not the type who would pitch a fit and insist they couldn't come.

Dh thinks his mother probably meant not to tell MY parents. You see, my parents have this awful habit of insisting on being here every time my in-laws are. My mother must do everything bigger and better than everyone else.

Here's just one example that explains it perfectly. When my mother saw the check I was giving my husband's brother when he got married, she insisted on writing a larger one from her and my father. Mind you, my BIL is no relation to her at all, was in a very comfortable financial situation and that check was TRIPLE what she gave HER ELDEST DAUGHTER when she got married (and my sister was not nearly as comfortable financially when she got married. My mother's financial situation, was the same through both of those weddings). So my in-laws VERY rarely get time here without my parents coming along as well. Dh thinks that's probably what his mother had in mind.

I completely agree on that stance and would love for my in-laws to have some one-on-one time with the kids without the other set of grandparents interfering.

You remember, my FIL has been battling cancer. I want him to have as much time as possible with his grandchildren without interruption. He has NEVER seen his grandchildren without my parents also being here. So I would absolutely agree to an exclusive visit from my in-laws.

Even if that was her intention, I have a big issue with any adult asking a child to keep something secret from an adult. My MIL specifically told my daughter to ask her father--not her, "Parents." Which would imply that she wasn't to tell me. That bothers me not just because she might want to keep it from me, but because I don't think it's appropriate for a child to be told to keep something from a parent. It sets a frightening standard.

I've always told my kids that if an adult asks them to keep something from their parents, the adult is doing something wrong.

I'm interested in what the internetz think. Do you think my reaction is inappropriate? Do you see my point? Should something be said to my MIL?

"Happy Holidays" is not an insult.

Great post over here at ZenMom. I have yet to hear a single, "Happy Holidays." It's always, "Merry Christmas" in my part of the world. I haven't been up to responding with, "Happy Holidays," because I know it will set someone off.

My kids get it, why can't adults? Last year, when some random person wished us, "Merry Christmas," I just smiled and nodded and said, "Same to you." The big kids then hissed at me, "But we don't celebrate Christmas. Why did he assume we did? He shouldn't say that if he doesn't know. We don't go around saying, 'Happy Chanukah,' to people if we don't know if they're Jewish." I had no answer for them because they were absolutely right.

Saying, "Happy Holidays," is NOT an attack on any one's holiday. It's an attempt to show respect for all people and all holidays.

And now I'm ranting. Forgive me. I don't want to raise my blood pressure. I just want to share the link.

Holiday Differences

The Difference Between Christmas and Chanukah.

Go read. It made me smile. It's an oldie, but a goodie.

Gift-giving in its most adorable form

Congratulate me. I'm going to be a grandmother. Pitty me, my grandchild is being carried by my 3-year-old son and will be named Elephant Stripey Hotdog.

Oh the gift-giving joy!

Today, we continued in our tradition and picked gifts at the Dollar Tree for dh and TheBoy. This year, TheBoy made his debut with our gift-giving group and tagged along. As usual, the gifts (and the reasoning behind them) were adorable.

Girl1 got her father an air freshener. Because things should always smell nice. It's shaped like a heart because she loves him and that way, when he sees it, he will remember she loves him.

Girl2 got him pens. That's perhaps, the most useful gift of all. He uses them all the time. Her thought was that when he uses them, he will think of her.

TheBoy got him one of those things that hooks on the end of the toothpaste and rolls up. That was my doing. Dh said just the other day that he wanted, so when I saw them, I opted to just pick the gift out for him. This is after a long list of items which TheBoy insisted would be perfect for Daddy. When I pointed out, "But Daddy doesn't need that or want that," TheBoy shot back with, "I do." So I let him pick the color of the toothpaste tchotchke. The options were blue, green or pink. TheBoy opted for pink. He said, "Daddy likes pink." I pointed out, "No he doesn't." To which TheBoy replied, "But I do."

The big kids also got a pack of planet wall stickers for their brother who repaid the favor by getting two packs of butterfly wall stickers for them.

Oh and when we hit the dollar aisle at Target yesterday, Girl1 found one remaining Hello Kitty multi-color pen. My kids LOVE those different color pens, but they go through them like crazy and they're not always available in the dollar sections. So Girl1 used her tooth fairy money (she lost tooth #8 last week) to buy it for her sister.

TheBoy got a Chanukah shirt for his stuffed Elephant. What did he opt to name this stuffed elephant? Why, of course the Chanukah Elephant is now named Pass Gas courtesy of the 3-year-old. Oy vey! TheBoy told Pass Gass, "Me is preg-ant. My baby kicking. Look." TheBoy then sucked his stomach in and puffed it out while he held his elephant's hand to his stomach. When I asked what the baby's name would be, TheBoy said, "Elephant Stripey Hotdog."

Best Chanukah gift ever

Yesterday, I rushed home from a playdate with a friend just before sunset. I considered stopping for Starbucks, but had pretty much decided not to. Then I realized that I could slap one of our shiny blue bows on it and call it a Chanukah gift for dh (who has been a great sport about only receiving one gift this year). Then I had the thought, "Watch us both stop for Starbucks."

I considered not stopping, but figured that if I didn't, then dh wouldn't either and we wouldn't be able to enjoy the yummy goodness that is Starbucks. So I stopped and got my favorite and dh's favorite. When I hurried home, dh was not yet there. And so, his coffee was bow-toped and waiting for him on the dining room table.

Sure enough, he walks in a few minutes later carrying 2 cups of Starbucks--the exact same drinks that I got. And sure enough, he said he almost didn't stop.

He seemed mildly annoyed, but I thought it was cool as hell.

The coffee was pretty cool, but the real gift was being that in tune with each other again after everything we've dealt with in the past few years.

Frustration aka: What does writing on your butt have to do with the Macabees?

Why do I bother? Please explain my family to me. No, really, PLEASE explain them. I'm begging you.

If you read my blog at all, you know we're rebelling this year against excess, against contaminated toys and against a mutiny conducted entirely by crappy plastic toys. I'm making most of the kids' gifts. Some of my children have oral issues (which is a nice way to say that the kid chews on EVERYTHING). So this plethora of lead paint recalls has me more than a tad bit frightened.

When the family asked me for a wish list for the children, I spent days talking to them and doing research. I then spent hours putting together a list for the family. I went so far as to package it all together in one neat little wish list which actually removes the items as they are purchased (a lovely feature if you don't want to repeat the fiasco that occurs when one receives doubles of three different toys). I e-mailed the family three times--initially with a self-compiled wish list and then with the new fancy version. In every e-mail, I explained two things:

• #1. Please do not feel obligated to buy our children anything. Money does not equal love (note to my mother). We don't expect gifts from anyone. We only sent the wish list as a courtesy for those who requested suggestions.
• #2. Due to the current recalls (Damn you, Mr. Kelly, my sophomore English teacher. I used the phrase, "Due to" to initiate a sentence and there's nothing you can do about it), we are very concerned about toys available in most retail stores. Please, if you buy something for the kids, please refrain from buying plastic toys.

I created the list specifically because my MIL asked me to (although other people had the same request later). I made the simple request that people not buy plastic toys. On the wish list, I included options that varied both in price and in function.

What did we get from my MIL today? A box chock full o'gifts. Said box contained nothing at all from the wish list. It did, however, contain lots of plastic toys.

I don't know if you'd consider me a good mom or an evil one, but I hid myself away from the kids, unwrapped all the gifts, and took away some of them. Some are going to be exchanged. Some are being donated.

And just FTR, I do NOT allow my children to wear clothing with anything written across the rear. This includes the otherwise absolutely adorable pants my MIL included with the shipment. I am far too skeeved by the idea of someone not only looking at my daughters' behinds, but doing so with the intensity required to read it. In addition, as I have mentioned previously, we're traditional Jews and while we personally don't subscribe to the long skirts/long sleeves fashion, we do prefer modesty. Dressing them in something which encourages staring at a child's behind is far from modest, IMHO.

GAH! I'm frustrated. Although, then I feel badly about that. I'm not ungrateful. I truly do appreciate the fact that they sent anything at all. They're family and I love them. I don't, however, love having to hide away the plastic crap that will most likely kill them in their sleep.

Oh and on a related note, does anyone out there think white corduroy pants are appropriate for younger children? Modesty has nothing to do with this. Laundry, however, does. Dh and my reactions when we saw them was, "Oh hell no. Those won't last a day before they're stained beyond repair."

I iz jus a Joo, a lonelee joo at kissmass...

moar funny pictures

It's Time to Make the Sushi.

I can't sleep. So what's any normal person to do when insomnia strikes? I don't know what normal people do, but I know I made sushi--at least some of the felt variety.

Remember, one of the things I wanted to make for the big kids this Chanukah is felt sushi. I combined the pattern I mentioned there with Lilly Bean's felt sushi (also linked on that post). I didn't even bother with the avocado the way the tutorial explains it. I just stitched a pile of green scraps together quickly. The whole project was super quick. It's probably the easiest felt food I've made thus far.

In the real world, we usually stick to the vegetable rolls, so I went with green in the middle to mimic any sort of vegetable. If I had a lighter green, I would have added that too. When I make these for friends, I think I'll use a mix of colors for those not bound by kashrut.




That was supposed to be the back, but with the (horribly sloppy) stitching, it looks much more like rice. In the future, I'll sew 2 pieces together on all 4 sides rather than creating a tube and only sewing on 3.

I've been craving sushi from one of my favorite restaurants. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. It's not helping my sushi lust.

At least I have something to show for my insomnia--and that something is faux sushi. :) I do so love my felt sushi. :)

Chanukah: The countdown has begun.

Chanukah is one week away. Yippee!

It's a minor holiday, but I like Chanukah. There's so much meaning behind lighting those candles. It was the promise of sharing those candles with my children that first started my journey towards more traditional Judaism.

We didn't always keep kosher. We didn't always celebrate Shabbat. We never said Motzi before meals. While we have always had a mezzuzah, it didn't always have meaning. It was more of a decoration. We never acknowledged it on our comings or goings. Aside from the copy of the Tanakh and the anchient copy of Gates of Repentance dh got for his bar mitzvah, we had no Jewish books.

Then, on one occasion, I saw someone light Shabbat candles and it suddenly occurred to me that, while our children had every right to kindle those flames, they wouldn't if we continued as we were then. Dh's grandmother had gone through so much to escape Nazi Germany, yet none of her grandchildren were raising Jewish children. She lit the Shabbat candles and Chanukah candles in Germany even when doing so threatened their lives. Yet, her struggles were in vain because none of us planned on raising Jewish kids much less observant ones. Our children had a right to those candles just as Bubbe did. That connection already existed in their blood. Who were we to deny them that? What right did we have to extinguish that flame?

That inspired me to look deeper into Judaism. The more I searched, the more my reasons for considering myself a secular Jew simply fell away. Most of what I read resonated with me--with my sense of ethics, with my morals, with my belief in G-d. Judaism gives me the freedom to wrestle with those few issues that I don't understand or with which I can't agree. I love that freedom to search and that expectation to understand.

My kids have never known life without those candles. We light candles with them for Shabbat. We light the candles on our big silver menorah for Chanukah. And last year, for the first time, they lit the candles on their own ones that they made themselves in Sunday school.

In Judaism, Chanukah is a minor holiday, but for me, it is far more important.

So many stupid people. So few comets.

Why do we place more value on Barbie* than on books?

In the past, we had an Amazon wish list for the kids for the holidays. That way, when the family asked for gift ideas, it was right there to make it easier on them. One year, my MIL ordered some things and told us, "There weren't many options. I wanted to get them something they really wanted, not any of that school stuff." :-o

I went back and looked at the list and there were actually very few school books on there (2 or 3 on homeschooling/the Jewish classroom for me). There were some that weren't fiction and a few language CDs, but that was it.

How does this make any sense? Educational things are bad? Then why are so many people jumping at the chance to buy Leap Pads and those V-tech educational video game systems? Is educational only considered a happy adjective if the item in question blinks and beeps and make ridiculously obnoxious noises? Why are school-related books bad? Our girls love school. They're out there right now doing some workbooks because they begged to do them. It's not uncommon for them to announce, "Let's do school." Their current favorite books are one about dead fairies, a few about dinosaurs and one about mummies.

I just can't understand why someone would rather buy lots of plastic crap that will be destroyed (or will be used to destroy other things) in a few weeks. Dh and I both adore books. We're forever reading. My MIL has always been proud that dh learned to read early. So why not do everything you can to give that gift to your grandchildren? Education is HUGELY important to both of us. Why would you give them a Polly Pocket who will be naked and headless in a month when you could give them a book that could stay with them for the rest of their lives?

Looking at the kids' wishlist this year, there are lots of educational toys on there. My mother called to tell me she bought bunches of things from their wishlist. While one is educational, all the others are frivolous things. The toys that my kids really want, but many consider "school things" remain largely untouched.

*FTR, I can't stand Barbie dolls and we don't have any. I just used her as an example.

Closed for gift-making. Be back soon.

It suddenly struck me that since Chanukah falls early on the secular calendar this year, that means it's only 2 and 1/2 weeks away (it starts Dec. 5). AHHHHHH. I decided to make everything this year.

Ut oh.

So I've been busy making stuff. Thus far, we have some hair clips half finished, felt green beans done (even though dh insists one looks like a jalepeno), some jewelry put aside, one pattern ready to use, and some definite plans and all the materials for my niece's gifts (which I can't share since her mom reads the blog).

I don't, however, have any ideas what on earth to make for dh. Anyone have any ideas? Please share. I have no clue where to start with guy's gifts.

Brave or stupid? You be the judge.

The gift shop at shul is small and full of breakable things. We typically don't take the kids in there because we have common sense and no desire to pay for a very expensive glass seder plate that is now broken into 4 jagged pieces because a little person belonging to us backed into it while reaching for the brightly colored aleph-bet ruler that changes from English to Hebrew when you move it back and forth.

This week, though, at Sunday school, the teachers took their classes to the gift shop to let the kids pick out Chanukah gifts for the family. One teacher + a room full of fragile items + a bunch of first graders = ouch.

FTR, they apparently came through unscathed. As far as I know, nothing broken nothing thrown. Girl2 bought us something, but won't tell us what. She even asked the sales woman to put it in a dark bag so that the contents won't be revealed.

She explained how she contemplated buying something for her baby brother:

"I wanted to get him a soft Torah, but I thought, 'Hmmm...maybe he will not want this,' So I put it back and got your gift instead."

Yes, she said that exactly including the "Hmmm," and the "will not." Is she an android? Her reluctance to use contractions makes me wonder. I have no doubt that she's charming. Her use of the word, "Hmmm," in conversation convinced me of that.

It has been a full hour now and she has yet to give us the gifts or reveal what the package contains. Her patience impresses me. She has gone so far as to hide it away in her brother's room so that we won't open it. I did NOT have her patience at that age. I remember wrapping up my favorite ice-cream-shaped eraser as a gift for my mom and giving it to her just minutes later because I couldn't wait to give the gift. Mind you, this was probably a full month before the holiday.

In a genius move, Girl1 bought gelt. You see, we don't do candy. The only time the kids are really allowed to have chocolate is Chanukah and Purim. And so, Girl1 bought gelt. At first, I was annoyed by the fact that she bought that when she knew she was supposed to be buying gifts, but then she explained, "It's for all of us to share this Chanukah." I can deal with that.

On the last night of Chanukah

my kids gave to Daddy

one pair of sunglasses and a bag of frozen french fries.

I kid you not.

I took the girls to the Dollar Tree to let them pick out a gift for dh. Oh boy was that fun! Before we even got there, Girl1 decided she wanted to buy a "robot with black sprinkles." Um...best of luck with that. When we found an orange robot-looking toy, that was not good enough for her because it lacked sprinkles and a dark color.

At one point, Girl2 wanted to get a pack of play dough. I couldn't fault her for it, though, because she explained, "I want to get that so daddy can play with me with that."

She settled for sunglasses (which was actually a good idea. dh always needs more). I preferred the first pair she picked, but she opted for the second one. Let me tell you, it was a HUGE struggle to let her make her own decision and not jump in for her.

After informing Girl1 that her father most definitely did not want a pink sparkly make-up bag, she opted for the robot sans black or sprinkles. That is, until we wandered past the frozen food (yes, our $tree has a frozen food section). There, low and behold, were the fries. She wanted to get that for daddy and she wanted him to share them with her.

Yes, we got them. Yes she did wrap them, but luckily, she wanted dh to open them right away. Girl2 also wrapped hers, but she held off on giving it to dh until after dinner (and yes, dinner did include french fries).

And get this, the girls insisted on getting a gift for their baby brother too. I told them they had to work together to agree on one gift (that baby does not need any more toys/bibs/anything that comes from the $tree). They agreed on a glow-in-the-dark skeleton shirt (Target reject, but I couldn't find anything wrong with it). We got it in a size bigger so he can wear it next Halloween, but they insisted he wear it to bed tonight. And so he did. Yes, they did come in in the dark to see it glow.

And so Chanukah ends. Big sigh from me. I love it. I love lighting the candles with them. I love singing the songs and reading books about it. And yes, the chanukah gelt is awfully tasty too. :-) As Chanukah ends, we'll clean off the silver menorah, take down the decorations, and pack it all up. I take heart in the fact that this year for the very first time, we'll also pack away the menorahs the girls made and lit themselves. This is what it's all about.

The real miracle of Chanukah isn't that a flame burned for 8 days. The real miracle is that Chanukah flames still burn over 2000 years later. Judah Macabee lit a flame, but it's our children who kindle that same fire today. THAT is the miracle of Chanukah.

The war on Chanukah

I'm sure you've all heard of the ridiculous "war on Christmas." Just because some people say, "Happy Holidays," instead of wishing everyone (including people who don't celebrate the day) a "Merry Christmas," people insist we are heathens who hate G-d and are out to destroy Christmas.

My feelings are this (in brief): Not everyone celebrates Christmas. Even if you do celebrate Christmas, there's also New Year in there. Holiday means "Holy day," so why pitch a fit?

Granted, a Christmas tree is a CHRISTMAS tree. It is NOT a holiday tree. The other day, dh and I saw something on t.v. where Santa was referring to a "holiday" something or other. Dh said, "He's Santa. He's a Christmas figure. Just call it Christmas." I have no issue with calling things their correct names. If it's a Christmas symbol, calling it something else won't change that.

I also have no issue with trying to respect every one's religious beliefs. Wishing me a "Happy Holiday" will in no way knock you down a notch on the Christian ladder.

In short:
"Holiday tree" = stupid
"Happy Holidays" = respectful

Now here's what prompted this post. On a message board, I shared a picture of the family lighting the candles. I specifically referred to us celebrating "Chanukah." FIVE DIFFERENT PEOPLE wished us a "Merry Christmas." (one of those wished a "Merry Xmas"). WTF?

Now I understand that some people don't get the whole Jewish thing. Some people assume we celebrate both. We don't. Yet those posts ONLY wished us a "Merry Christmas." There was no mention of Chanukah (the subject of the post and very obvious subject of the picture) at all.

Granted, the vast majority of people wished us a "Happy holidays," and I really do appreciate the warm wishes. I'm just baffled by the Christmas stuff. What are people thinking?

On the third night of Chanukah...

My true love gave to me,
an arm strap for my MP3s.

Let's recap. Thus far, I have gotten a new MP3 player, an arm strap for it so I can use it at the gym, and a DVD collection of some of my very favorites (the 3-disc set includes Dark Crystal and Labrynth). I am very pleased.

For the first time ever, the girls have been able to light their own menorahs (which they made themselves in Sunday school. That's one of them over there on the left). It's so awesome to be able to share this with them.

Oh, oh, oh and get this. Did you know the Little People are Jewish? Well, not all of them, but at least this family is. The girls got that set and they are absolutely in love with it.

Although, the very best part of it was when they turned their backs and I replaced the baby in the high chair with the dog. It took the girls a second to notice, but when they did, we all cracked up for a full 2-3 minutes.

They may drive me nuts, but I love my kids. They are SO much fun.

Happy Chanukah to all and to all a good night.

It's the first night of Chanukah. WOO HOO.

Took the kids to a party at shul. Gave dh and the girls lightsabers. Got a new KICK-ASS MP3 player that was a complete shock (I love it when I'm surprised). The mailman delivered my brand new diaper bag (my Chanukah gift to myself). I had VERY GOOD latkes cooked just the way I like 'em.

I know we're only 1 day into this holiday, but so far, it's rocking my world. :-)

A very happy Chanukah wish is extended to my fellow yids.