http://community.greatschools.net/advice/28/Jewish---Christian-Home-Creates-Fun--Loads-of-Tradition-and-Respect- <p>We celebrate Advent - with the candles each of the four Sunday evenings leading up to Christmas - We also have an Advent Calendar with clues to a small gift. A recent clue was in very small writing vroom - and of course it was a Hot Wheels car.&nbsp; The clues help my daughter think about what the gift may be, but also it gives her clues about how her parents think - each of us writes the clues to half of the Advent gifts - so part of the fun is to figure out what parent wrote the clue. Christmas Eve is spent at Church with mid-night Mass. This is more out of tradition and belief that the communal spirit of the holiday is as important as what religious leaders have to say. Christmas morning is spent opening gifts and Christmas afternoon is spent sharing the day with family and friends, playing and enjoying each other's company.</p> <p>Hanukkah began last evening. The first night of Hanukkah is the most special in our house. We invite family and friends. We light three Menorahs. The prayer is said three times: once in Hebrew, once sung in Hebrew and then in English. Everyone takes turns grating potatoes for latkes, we play dreidels and we talk about what miracles, or good things, have happened in our family and in the world during the year. We all have dinner at the table together, then my daughter opens a small gift, this year it was a hair thing and a new dreidels that she had been eying. We light the Menorahs every night with the prayer in three ways. Friends drop by or call nearly every night.</p> <p>We talk about the similarities and differences of each tradition. We talk about what we appreciate in each other, then we play the piano - this happens for both holidays. The learning part is more about gratitude for the gifts (both non-material and material) we have experienced in the past year. We also talk about our hope for our future, and that of our family and friends as well as people around the world. We have been celebrating this way for the past 8 years, and it feels richer every year.</p> GreatSchools en-us momofJADM I echo tjlove's reply. We are raising our children to be Christian, but they have been exposed to many different religions and cultures. Our extended family and close family friends ... http://community.greatschools.net/advice/28/Jewish---Christian-Home-Creates-Fun--Loads-of-Tradition-and-Respect-?cpage=1#comment_202096 4100.202096 Sun, 22 Jun 2008 04:17:27 -0700 RegularStudent There are different experiences for different people. http://community.greatschools.net/advice/28/Jewish---Christian-Home-Creates-Fun--Loads-of-Tradition-and-Respect-?cpage=1#comment_186720 4100.186720 Mon, 19 May 2008 19:57:54 -0700 Elizabeth As I've gotten older and it's become rarer that I spend Christmas with my family of origin, I've found that I am really thankful for the traditions we had. Every ... http://community.greatschools.net/advice/28/Jewish---Christian-Home-Creates-Fun--Loads-of-Tradition-and-Respect-?cpage=1#comment_124976 4100.124976 Mon, 17 Dec 2007 17:31:14 -0800 Shasha One thing I love about the holidays is learning how families often weave together aspects of their family of origin traditions into something new. It sounds like you have done ... http://community.greatschools.net/advice/28/Jewish---Christian-Home-Creates-Fun--Loads-of-Tradition-and-Respect-?cpage=1#comment_124891 4100.124891 Mon, 17 Dec 2007 13:00:09 -0800 tjlove Bringing your daughter up to understand both traditions is an amazing way to open her up to all the different kinds cultures the world has to offer. My parents were ... http://community.greatschools.net/advice/28/Jewish---Christian-Home-Creates-Fun--Loads-of-Tradition-and-Respect-?cpage=1#comment_124009 4100.124009 Wed, 05 Dec 2007 14:56:50 -0800 kkornas I think it's really neat that you bring family AND friends into your holiday celebrations. Friends enrich our lives much like our families do (but in very different ways, I ... http://community.greatschools.net/advice/28/Jewish---Christian-Home-Creates-Fun--Loads-of-Tradition-and-Respect-?cpage=2#comment_123994 4100.123994 Wed, 05 Dec 2007 11:46:14 -0800