That is, from the non-Christmas side. From the Hanukkah side.
It has definitely been interesting this year. Asher is old enough to be bedazzled by everything Christmas. EVERYTHING. Lights, Santa, wreaths, moving reindeer, trees, ornaments, TV specials etc. If you step back and take a look, there is a LOT of Christmas going on. We talk about it a lot, and who celebrates what, and why, and more lights and wow and etc....
Now, Hanukkah is not a major Jewish holiday. Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah (Fall), and Passover (Spring) are the major ones. They just don't happen to fall around Christmas which is a marketing, bonanza, so Hanukkah gets a bump in importance in order to compete, if you will. And I think Jewish parents fall victim to it. Use it as a time to make sure their non-Christian children don't get slighted on the gift-getting end. Use it as a reason to spoil their kids a little. And frankly, it is easiest to explain away Christmas with the all popular, "Well, you get 8 nights of fun and presents for HAnukkah instead of just one day!"
In addition, I have recently converted to Judaism and this is my first year officially without Christmas, even though we have not been celebrating for a while. I think that makes me hyper-sensitive to how my children might react around such a public holiday. However, we had a lovely Hanukkah. Grandma & Grandpa came, we had several nights of good food. There were presents, big and small, the dreidel game, lots of playing, a Hanukkah party at the synagogue preschool, and lighting the menorah for 8 nights (or 9 in our case as we skipped one and had to make up for it.) It is the holiday that keeps on going and going and going. But I have been worried about him feeling slighted. I loved Christmas as a child and my memories of that still hold a dear place in my heart. What kind of effect would it have on Asher, never having that?
The answer is none. And I should have known it all along. It is the reason I converted. It is the reason Dan and I married, and decided to raise our children in the Jewish faith. It is the reason that maybe you love Christmas. Or Kwanzaa. Or that you don't need a holiday to celebrate. The reason is that it is the family that makes the holiday. It is family and tradition that make the memories. It is the family that the joy stems from. And as much as we give our parents an grandparents a hard time about how wonderful it is when everyone is together, it is true. Those are my fond memories. My family, singing Christmas carols, and now, lighting a menorah together. It is the together that makes it special. And the materialistic side that we create around it, really can't hold a candle, Hanukkah, or advent, to the impression that we make upon our children by demonstrating a loving, caring family.
Asher proved it to me at the vet this morning. They had a tree lit up when we went in to get some dog food. He and Jacob were oogling and talking non-stop about how beautiful it was. The very nice grandma who works at the counter came out to talk to him. She chatted him up with one of the three usual things to say to a kid right now. (In case you were wondering, they are: Have you been good for Santa? What did you ask for for Christmas? and, Do you have your Christmas tree up?) She opted for the question about the tree, and he just looked at her and said, "We don't celebrate Christmas. When I grow up I want to run the beer tanks at a restaurant." (Let's come back to the beer comment another time...) But the point is, he's fine with it. And he handled it beautifully. I shouldn't have worried. And I should be thankful that he is lucky enough to be making memories just like I was.