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^{Posted by: BuckeyeChristy}

In our house, we never have to fight over which family gets to see the girls for the holidays. There's no trading off, doing one year with my husband's family and one year with my family. We escaped this holiday nightmare because my husband is Jewish, and his family celebrates Hanukkah, while my family celebrates Christmas.

While we certainly didn't marry because we'd get two holidays in December, there are advantages to our situation. Both sets of grandparents get ample time to lavish attention on Cordy and Mira. At Hanukkah, my husband's family get all the time they want with the girls, and my family gets the girls all to themselves at Christmas. Each holiday can be enjoyed without the rush of going from house to house, too. On Christmas Day, my family comes to our house and we open gifts and have a big Christmas dinner together. For Hanukkah, one day during the festival is chosen to gather for a dinner and gift exchange. If Hanukkah falls over Christmas, a day is chosen that doesn't interfere with Christmas.

It's also nice that we have more flexibility when buying gifts. When Hanukkah falls late in the month, we sometimes hit the after-Christmas sales for good gifts. When it's early in the year, like it is this year, we focus on Hanukkah gifts during the after-Thanksgiving sales, and then turn our thoughts to Christmas gifts later in December. Having two shorter lists helps me stay more organized. One giant gift list would probably overwhelm me.

At our house, we decorate the house with a lot of Christmas-themed decorations. We have a tree, we put a wreath on the door, twinkling lights outside, stockings hung over the fireplace, and a garland across the fireplace mantel. But we also have a menorah in the middle of the mantel, and our tree is decorated with secular ornaments - mostly superhero ornaments (my husband's obsession) and Disney ornaments. The gifts are all wrapped in paper that is either plain or winter-themed. That way we don't have to worry about offending anyone with paper that reflects a holiday someone doesn't celebrate.

Are there any downsides? Not many, truthfully. It does feel like we're not very committed to either holiday by celebrating both. Neither my husband or I are very religious - we tend to observe the holidays as a celebration of our cultures, not for the religious reasons. But both families understand and fully support our dual-celebration, enjoying the chance to teach our daughters about their two different heritages.

Cordy loves celebrating both holidays. I think she's convinced she gets twice as many gifts as a result, even though she's really getting the same amount spread out over two parties. Someday she'll realize that the number of gifts is the same, but she'll probably still be the envy of all her friends as she gets two gift-opening holidays instead of just one in December. It works well for us, and while preparing for two celebrations might seem like more work, it's actually easier than trying to coordinate two families getting together on the same day.


Other Hanukkah Posts in the Yule Blog:
Celebrating Christmas and Hanukkah
Hanukkah Gift Ideas for All Ages