I’ve never felt deprived that I didn’t celebrate Christmas. At least, I don’t remember feeling that way. We’re now starting to get questions from our eldest daughter about why we are different from our friends, neighbors, even some of our family. Why don’t we have a Christmas tree, mama? Why don’t we have lights in the dark in front of our house? Why, why, why?
The answers can be quite vexing to a preschooler (to whom fairness and sharing are two major themes). Being different is not a value that’s always emphasized or celebrated at that age.
So I’ve come up with a new, very tongue-in-cheek answer: we can’t afford Christmas. To put it more positively, because we don’t celebrate Christmas, we get to do many fun activities during the entire rest of the year.
The basic premise is this: If we celebrated Christmas, someone would have to keep all the decorating catalogs away from me. Our light display would be enough to make Ameren be my best friend. There would be Santa pictures to be taken (even with the dog!), Santa plates (for the cookies) to be made and stockings to be filled. Then there are ornaments, trees, and wreaths we would need to have. And I haven’t even gotten to the presents yet, or contributions to those in need. Not to mention cookies, all those cookies.
So now I’m thankful to be a Jew at Christmas time. Because after adding up all those numbers in my head — wow. It’s pretty daunting. I don’t know how you all do it.
Laura Weisskopf Bleill is a co-founder of chambanamoms.com, and not-so-secretly covets one of the replica leg lamps from A Christmas Story. She writes “Being a Jew in C-U,” a column about a column about being a Jewish suburban girl in a cornfield, on Thursdays. You can reach her at laura@chambanamoms.com.