Feel free to leave your own haiku in the comments below! Are you giving gifts this holiday season? Got all your shopping done yet?
So we’re over halfway done with Hanukkah this year – it’s the first year the CP is old enough to really take part in the celebration. Although she’s not lighting candles yet, she and the Bean are picking out which candles to put into the menorah each night, and she says the prayers with me (in a repeat-after-me fashion). She’s been learning about the story and history of Hanukkah in Sunday School, and generally enjoying the whole holiday.
Especially. The. Presents.
Yes, we’re trying to do the “8 nights of gifts” thing, but we’re not talking BIG gifts every night. Since the girls also get gifts at Christmas time, we’re not going overboard and inundating them with presents at Hanukkah, so sometimes they just get something little, like a dreidel or a squeeze-ball toy. But they do have gifts from their grandparents and great-grandparents/other relatives, so they’re getting to open those most nights after we light the candles.
It’s very sweet watching them play with their presents. Two nights ago we gave the CP her Mancala game and I sat down to teach her how to play. She took to it immediately, and was loving the gameplay with the glass beads and the strategy aspects of it. After she and I finished playing a few games, she wanted to “practice by herself”. She proceeded to play both players’ roles on the game by herself, (much like playing chess against yourself). Needless to say, she won.
With Hanukkah almost over, we move on to the next holiday. Which no, is not Christmas. The Bean has her birthday near the end of next week, first. She’s turning 3 (and yes, she’s been a Terrible Two sometimes and I don’t expect it to stop any time soon) and will get a little party of her own before we do Christmas the week after that. Seriously, this is the season for presents for the girls, and debt for the parents!
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December 6th, 2010 on 10:30 AM
Reproductive Health
Grant deadline — December 5th
Done. Where’s the whiskey?
December 6th, 2010 on 4:41 PM
Excellent Steve! Hope you get the grant! And have a whiskey for me! (I’d say on me, but it’s hard to pay for your drinks from across the country…)
December 6th, 2010 on 4:09 PM
Big car runs stop sign
Totals my little Mazda
Think I’ll buy one now
December 6th, 2010 on 4:42 PM
Yikes! I hope you (and anyone else involved in the accident) are okay! Is the car totaled?
December 6th, 2010 on 4:50 PM
Just me in the car. I’m fine, car totaled. Finished paying for it 6 months ago – oh boy, back to car payments!
December 8th, 2010 on 1:12 AM
grumpy and grouchy
not finding the joy of it
santa, please bring booze.
December 8th, 2010 on 12:31 PM
Sorry, no haiku this time.
Yes, we’re trying to do the “8 nights of gifts” thing, but we’re not talking BIG gifts every night.
This reminds me of some friends of the family– I mean like, friends of my side of the family (parents, one of my sisters, etc.) I forget what Dad said they told him– something about a modification of the Hanukkah tradition, like they only got a few nice presents instead of one every night.
December 8th, 2010 on 1:30 PM
Yeah, the whole gift-giving tradition is relatively new to the celebration of Hanukkah, anyway. It used to be that people would give out “gelt” (Yiddish for money) in the form of small coins for kids to help them enjoy the holiday. Over the years, as modern Jews started to celebrate Hanukkah with more westernized traditions, these small gifts turned into presents in a similar manner to those given at Christmas.
Someone had a great idea on another forum – they suggested that instead of giving your kids gifts every night, use that money to buy gifts for a disadvantaged family that is taking part in an “Angel Tree” program or the like – let the kids help pick out the gifts, and talk to them about why it is important to be generous and charitable to those who have less than you. We might try doing something like this in a couple years when the Bean is old enough to better understand charity.
December 9th, 2010 on 4:56 PM
MAN it’s been a while since I read your blog. Stupid WordPress is supposed to keep me updated with your new posts, but it didn’t. Sorry.
I’m really not that good with Haiku. or poetry for that matter. the only poetry that comes out of me is depressing kind.