Happy Christmachanuyulekah!

One of the greatest perks of living in a coexisting home are all the holidays you get to celebrate! I know that I've experienced more Jewish holidays since Matt and I have been together (has it really been 6.5 years...?) than I ever thought I would, and because of my background and current spirituality, I get to see how the old melds with the new. It's been a real whirlwind.

Since we do celebrate everything at our house, we're also prepared for... well, everything! I went through the basement this weekend to find some decorations, and was happy to see we had everything covered: A Yule tree that's been in my family since I was born, a menorah lovingly given to us by Matt's Nana, more penguins than you can shake a stick at, and even a miniature manger scene. We've got the whole gamut!

... which means our children will likely get the whole gamut, too. Between Christmas at my parents', Chanukah at Matt's parents', and a mixture of those plus Yule at home, they're seriously going to think December is the greatest month of the entire year.

Okay, second greatest. After October and Halloween, of course. ;)

When I was a child, I remember getting dressed in my Sunday best and traipsing with my parents to church on Christmas Eve. As my sister, who is 11 months younger than I, and I grew older, the time at which we'd go to Christmas Eve mass grew later until we were eventually attending midnight mass. There were several Christmas Eves where we'd have our heads in Mom's lap, snoring away as visions of waking the next morning to a magical scene of cinnamon buns and a stocking full of little trinkets were made clearer by the smell of frankincense and myrrh whirled around the church.

Things back then... they had a certain sense of fantasy to them, you know? You could lie under a Christmas tree and look up into the array of twinkling lights and dangling ornaments for hours, listening to soft holiday music and fingering a few of the boughs tinged with sticky sap. You could feel the snap in the air (in Florida, that's at a now-laughable 50 degrees or so!) and gleefully pull your sweater, smelling of the walls and of last winter, out of the closet and over your head. You could eat more gingerbread people than you ever decorate, alternating which appendage would go first for each cookie.

These are the memories I have. Not of presents or of Santa... except that one year where our neighbor attempted to fool the neighborhood kids into believing that Santa was just that skinny because he didn't have his usual supply of milk and cookies. That one, I'll remember forever. ;) No, it was the -- and this is so cliche -- Christmas spirit in the air, the holiday cheer.

That is what I want our kids to remember. While they'll be surrounded by the traditions of several different faiths, I hope even more that they'll be surrounded with the same feelings of love, warmth, and family that I felt and still feel every year. I want them to look upon the tree, the menorah, the different symbols and remember not necessarily their meanings -- they'll know that! -- but remember what they represent: A time of year where maybe, just maybe, the world was a better place. Even just for a month.

Merry Christmas, happy Chanukah, and blessed Yule. And happy whatever else you may celebrate. :)