For those of you who think that we have had too many crises this past year (Iraq, financial meltdown, unemployment creeping into everyone's life, Bristol Palin's future mother-in- law busted for operating a meth lab) there is one more that every Jewish parent faces this time of year....the dreaded "December Dilemma".
This is the problem of explaining to our child why instead of having a festive tree, singing spiritual songs, waiting up all night to catch a glimpse of Santa and having a gaudy light display in front of our house, we instead light cheap wax candles, eat chocolate money and wonder why two of the biggest selling Christmas albums of all time are by Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond.
Of course in our home, this really isn't a problem. I have seen photos of me as a child with our family gathered around a "Hanukah bush" and heard stories from my parents of my brother, sister and myself sitting on Santa's lap. Furthermore, because of my spouse's love of Christmas, a decorated tree has been part of our home for many years (as has a lit menorah and mezuzah), which fortunately has not led to my being asked to leave the Temple during Yom Kippur services.
But the real reason this is not a problem in our home is that Elijah doesn't care what the occasion is as long as he gets presents and chocolate-chip cookie dough or Hanukah gelt (chocolate money). For the last few years he has shown some (but not a lot) of interest in lighting the menorah, only because he knew chocolate was part of the equation. And Christmas had even less significance to him, as no chocolate was involved.
This year, things are different. Elijah really wanted to help decorate the tree and has been talking about Santa Claus and what he wants him to bring for Christmas (as an earlier post noted, basketball goals were high on the list). He also has been reading "Blue's Clues Hanukah Party" every day (for the record, Blue is not Jewish -- the party is at his friend Orange Kitty's house), so it really does feel like a holiday season around the house.
However, some confusion has crept into this festive time. Elijah has wanted a book he saw at Barnes and Noble, so we told him to ask Santa for it, which he did the following day. (Our health club had a Santa this past weekend). Unfortunately, he couldn't comprehend the idea that Christmas was still a few days away, so Santa couldn't bring him the book till then. This did not sit well with our impatient son. Then we realized that the first night of Hanukah was upon us and we could give him the book, which we did, bringing a wide smile to his face.
Did you follow that? We told Elijah to ask Santa for a gift, that he then received on the first night of Hanukah. This cosmic shift in the religious world that took place could only be described as monumental. Alas, our literal little lad knows the truth all too well. As soon as he asked Santa for the book he wanted he turned to me and said, "Daddy and Elijah to go to Barnes and Noble and get Lots of Dots" (the book in question). So much for the Santa mystique.
Still, it is great to see him excited about the holidays, and the happiness he exudes for both Hanukah and Christmas truly brings joy to our world.
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