A couple of weeks ago, my three-year-old son noticed that our neighbours had put up their Christmas lights. His eyes widened as he gazed in awe at the many colourful bulbs lighting up the cold, dark night. “We have to put our lights up!” he proclaimed. I replied with something along the lines of “Yeah, uh, let’s go inside for dinner,” realizing that I was ill prepared for the conversation where I explain to my child that we are Jewish and don’t celebrate Christmas. After scouring the internet for articles and talking to other parents who are in the same boat, I came up with a list of tips for how to deal with Christmas when you don’t do Christmas.
Stephanie Gilman 