Had you been dreaming of a white Christmas? Is there snow where you are today? I’m visiting my parents and we had beautiful snow here for Christmas eve – but it’s a rainy Christmas day. I am Jewish, so while we don’t celebrate Christmas, we do have our related traditions.
As a child, my mom had little stockings for us to hang on the large antique seat in our front hall. We didn’t have a fireplace, and we are Jewish, so I knew that Santa was not going to try coming in through the front door. He preferred chimneys. But we still put out cookies at night and in the morning looked for the fun stocking stuffers mom left for us. Chanukah was usually finished by the time Christmas started – sometimes they overlap, but not often. Our Chanukah traditions included lighting the candles each night – sometimes while on the phone with our mom because she had to be at work – and choosing one of the 8 small gifts she’d have wrapped under the buffet table in the living room. We always got a calendar for the new year.
As a mom, I tried to recreate some of those traditions blended with those of my husband, while creating new ones that were unique to our family of four. I always had 8 small gifts that the kids could choose from each night after lighting candles, sometimes including a fun new dreidle or a travel game. For many years, we helped friends decorate their Christmas tree and they came over to light Chanukah candles. And walking along 5th Avenue to see the tree at Rockefeller Center along with all the special store windows is always a treat.
Eating Chinese food for dinner – usually Christmas eve, sometimes Christmas day dinner – is a tradition for most Jewish families. We used to go out to a restaurant and then to the movies, but we now do that from home due to Covid. It’s actually fun to eat out of Chinese food boxes while watching a Christmas movie and then playing games late into the night. The laughter is so contagious (better than omicron!). New and adapted traditions…new memories.
I am also acutely aware of all that we have – how fortunate we are to have family, home, food, and love – not to mention the opportunity to give and receive regardless of how much. With this time of year comes reminders to give – and I am grateful when I see how giving my children are, how empathetic they feel towards those in need, and how appreciative they are for what they have. It’s a reminder to be giving all through the year. At Baby Fingers, we give what we can to organizations that are owned by or that provide support to members of the Deaf community, we offer scholarship to families with Deaf children and others in need, and we hope to help create new family bonds that lead to special memories. What childhood memories do you have around the holidays? OR anytime with family? What are some of your family traditions, past and present?