Christmas Pajamas When my children were small we fell into rather than decided on certain traditions. On Christmas Eve the children were each allowed to open one gift when we got home from Christmas Eve church services. I pretended to make a difficult choice, then handed each of them the one package they were allowed to open. Somehow they never caught on that it was always the one from their Granny and it always contained some really cool pajamas or a princess-worthy nightgown, which they were allowed to put on right away. My thirty-something daughters still talk about the year they received harem-style pajamas. Bicycles and dolls have been forgotten over the years but those pajamas linger as one of …

One of My Favorite Christmas Memories One of the greatest joys of my life is my son, Nicholas. He’s far away now, living with his husband, Tarik, in Montreal, but I miss him every day. Around the holidays, I think a little more about Nick and the many happy Christmases we shared when we were all living much, much closer together in Chicago. One Christmas, though, stands out. Because Nick’s mother and I divorced when he was six years old, we had to share him on the holidays. Usually, I got Nick on Christmas Eve and his mom would take him Christmas Day. One year when Nick was in high school, all the forces aligned to make it a very …

A Sense of Family When I think of Christmas, I think of family. Christmas meant going to my grandparents’ home on Christmas Eve with my aunts, uncles, and cousins to feast on an abundance of food (always several different types of fish), play games, and laugh. We’d sing Christmas songs led by my uncle, who sang totally off-key. We made memories.

Memories of Christmas Past Christmas holds so many wonderful memories of family and Christmas past that when Andrew asked me to share something about Christmas especially in regard to families and children, I found myself reliving so many joyous Christmas memories, both from my childhood and my daughter’s, recent and decades ago.  It was a tough choice but in the end I chose to go way back to my own childhood and an overworked Dad and Mom who never failed to bring the magic and joy of the holiday season alive each and every year.

Kids and Christmas—What Santa Doesn’t Tell You Even though my oldest son was born on December 12th, let’s face it—that first Christmas was sort of a bust from his end, and the second wasn’t much better.  I mean, long hours, lots of people, too much noise, too much excitement, and too many people not-the-mama or want-the-daddy are trying to hold you—how awesome can Christmas really be for the very very tiny?  The adults are losing their minds.  “Ohmigosh! It’s a toddler in a Santa hat, couldn’t you just die!” And seriously—you add a kitten to the picture or a puppy or hell, even a gold fish in a bowl with red and green rocks, and, yes, sugar shock will set …

לדור ודור (“From Generation to Generation”) I grew up in a household with two non-observant (culturally) Jewish parents, but that didn’t stop us from singing Christmas carols or even having a Christmas tree. To say I was a bit confused about religious holidays as a kid is probably an understatement: I was totally lost!  As I got older, I came to realize that Jews have an innate need to be part of the “feeling” of the Christmas holiday season.  I think this is part of the reason that Chanukah, one of the least important Jewish holidays, has become a fixture of American holiday culture.  Perhaps it also explains Jews’ uneasy relationship with Chanukah. But to only look this far in …

Andy, thank you for having me today, and thank you even more for organizing this holiday event. Christmas can get so hectic and it’s nice to take a minute or five to reflect on what a special time of year it is. Christmas has always been the most important holiday for my family. We have all sorts of traditions that make it wonderful, but this year I will be missing out on most of them. This year is the first year I won’t be going home for Christmas. I am sad to be away from family over the holidays (although they are coming down to see me on Boxing Day, so I can’t complain too much). And this year marks …

Christmas Rituals My own memories of Christmas are very fond ones. I grew up in a large family (my parents have four siblings each) with lots of cousins, and on Christmas Eve everyone met either in my grandparents’ flat or ours. It was always crowded, as well as a lot of coming and going, but I loved the bustle as a kid. Everyone talked, and laughed, and of course ate too much. My husband’s family celebrated Christmas very differently. It was only him and his parents and everything was quiet and done in a completely different fashion. So, when we celebrated our first Christmas as a family, we had completely contrary feelings on how to deal with everything. Add to …

Growing up in blended families meant I didn’t have the traditional family holiday. It’s only gotten worse as we grew and married. Through all the travel to attend the 4-5 Christmas ‘present events’ we go to each year, finding the time to do fun things together with two kids can be a challenge. We have a few rituals that we always do together but the hustle and bustle can get the better of us. There are 2 we never, ever fail to do. Bundled up in boots and warm, waterproof coats, armed with cocoa… we brave the elements to find the perfect family tree. No rain, mud, sleet, snow, or this year’s holy crap my face is frozen wind chill …

Hello all you wonderful people who have stopped by Andrew Gordon’s wonderful blog to read all about how Christmas has effected each of us in a special and unique way. I am going to talk briefly about my son. On this day, December 13, four years ago I met the sweetest, most adorable thirteen year old boy in the world and fell in love. People I meet now often ask me to tell them how I came to the decision of adoption because it seems like such a wonderful thing to do for him and how giving I am etc… And I respond by saying it was a completely selfish thing I did, because I was only thinking about how …