I love the whole three things post idea. I’ve even done a couple before. I love them because they’re organized, they’re in list form, and they’re really easy to steal borrow from someone else. So when Tanya posted her holiday version of three things, I knew I’d be all over it.
Except. Holidays are weird. Do I talk about Hanukkah? Do I talk about Christmas? DECISIONS ARE HARD. So I decided not to decide (or, to quote Rush, If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice. FINE. I GET IT. But I’m not feeling philosophical right now) and I’m just going to answer with a mess of both holidays.
3 Things I Love about Christmas
- Lights. I love Christmas lights. I even loved them before I celebrated Christmas. THEY’RE JUST SO PRETTY. And for those who are wondering: white lights on the tree, multicolored lights on the outside. This is nonnegotiable.
- Donating to Toys for Tots. It’s something I’ve done since I graduated from college and it’s one of the highlights of the whole season.
- A fully lit menorah. Day 8 is beautiful, even on my rickety, old, covered in candle wax menorah. This might be a subset of lights but I stand by it as it’s own thing.
3 Things I Dislike about Christmas
- The Elf on the Shelf phenomenon. FUCK THAT SHIT. I don’t need or want a creepy stalker elf anywhere in my house and I sure as shit don’t want to have to think about creative ways to move it or give it personality.
- Perfectionism. Or, the idea of perfectionism perpetuated on social media. If your holidays are really that picture perfect, I’m not sure if I can trust you. Because I think you’re a liar.
- Never being able to find anything for Hanukkah. It’s getting a little better now (thank you, Michael’s) but up until the last year or two, I’d have to go to New York or have my mother send me things for Hanukkah. Basic things like menorah candles. This shouldn’t be. I mean, Hanukkah is not a major holiday at all but COME ON. It should not be a stretch to find a box of candles.
3 Favorite Christmas Movies
- The Muppet Christmas Carol. I have an obsessive love of The Muppets so this shouldn’t be a surprise.
- Christmas Vacation. A standard.
- A Christmas Story. Mostly because I quote it all year. P.S. I am oddly curious to watch the live version of it but I fully expect it to suck balls
3 Favorite Christmas Treats
- Peanut butter fudge. All fudge, really, but specifically peanut butter. Because peanut butter.
- Potato latkes. My great-grandmother made the best ones in the history of ever but even ones that aren’t quite as good as hers are still pretty damn good.
- Cookies. Any and all. And not the gluten free bullshit than I’m usually resigned to. I eat the cookies and I expect issues. But so worth it.
3 Favorite Christmas Traditions
- Decorating gingerbread houses. I buy a kit because there is no way in hell I’m making all those pieces. But it’s something we do every year and while it ultimately ends up as the ugliest Christmas gingerbread village in all the land, it’s a lot of fun.
- Watching The Muppet Christmas Carol. True story: I saw in the actual movie theater when it was released in 1992 and now I own the DVD and it’s my favorite Christmas movie of all time. I’d rather watch it than pretty much any other movie.
- Making reindeer food and elf donuts. I’ve had to embrace some Christmas normalcy because of my daughter, which means the whole cookies and milk for Santa (he gets fudge at our house, though, and also thank god we’re almost done with all of this crap because it’s exhausting) and back when I was an ambitious mother, I found something on Pinterest for both reindeer food (oatmeal mixed with sprinkles and thrown in the yard) and elf donuts (Cheerios covered in powdered sugar, cinnamon, or melted chocolate and put in a mini Altoid tin).
- Bonus tradition: growing up, we always ate Chinese food and went to the movies on Christmas day because THAT’S WHAT JEWS DO
3 Favorite Christmas Songs
None. I loathe Christmas music and “I Have a Little Dreidel” is a pretty shitty song. But if I had to pick, it’d be:
- All I Need is Love by The Muppets and Cee Lo (heavy emphasis on The Muppets part of the song)
- The Season’s Upon Us by The Dropkick Murphys
- All the Hanukkah songs by the Maccabeats (this one about latkes is my actual favorite)
3 Favorite Christmas Gifts Received
I actually have no answer for this question because my mind is refusing to allow me to remember gifts of any significance. I’m pretty sure I got a Cabbage Patch doll for Hanukkah when I was a kid and I know I was ecstatic but I’m not 100% confident that it was for Hanukkah so it can’t count. I also remember being over the moon happy when I got a VHS copy of Major League (one of my all-time favorite movies). Those are the two that are jumping out. Maybe we’ll revisit this question another time.
3 Gifts I Want to Give the World
- Empathy. The amount of bullying and racism and lack of compassion and shaming for everything is out of hand. Everyone has some amount of hurt and sometimes, we wind up projecting our own hurt onto others (hurt people hurt people is #truth). And that’s not fair. Considering other’s feelings and realizing we’re all just trying to do our best goes a long way.
- The impeachment of Donald Trump. A girl can dream.
- Equality. In pay, in the workplace, in the home, in society, in everywhere. No one gender or religion or race is superior and we’ll all be better off once we start recognizing that. It’s time to smash the patriarchy, xenophobia, homophobia, ignorance, and intolerance of anyone not exactly like us once and for all. It’s time to start treating everyone with respect and basic human decency.
Your turn! What are three holiday things I should know about you?
I laughed at the Donald trump comment.
Peanut butter fudge. Yessssss
I don’t know how parents do that stupid elf every day. I wouldn’t have the patience.
Rebecca Jo recently posted…Plug those ears, a good report & cards to remind others they are loved {Thankful Thursday #154}
You made my heart so happy by saying Muppet Christmas Carol! It is my absolute favorite and no one has ever even seen it! Light the lamp, not the rat!! We are a strict non-elf household too.
Hahaha- it amusing me how we differ on Christmas lighting.
I think a wax covered, older menorah would be stunning and magical. I think that older items add a little tough of magic during the holiday season!
I love the Muppet Christmas Carol 🙂 I’ve never had potato latkes but they sound yummy!
I really love the Jewish tradition of Chinese food and a movie on Christmas 😉 I think that sounds so relaxing and fun.
I second your gift to the world. I’ll forfeit all the presents for a presidential impeachment.
Audrey recently posted…Book Challenge by Erin 8.0
Can’t freaking stand the elf, I hate when it pops up on my instagram feed. That thing is terrifying.
Stephanie recently posted…Three on Thursday
Love this idea!
I hate the elf with a passion. They are allll over my Facebook and they’re so creepy. So glad the tradition hasn’t made it to Switzerland… yet.
Confuzzled Bev recently posted…The books I read in November 2017
I think I’m the only person who doesn’t like “A Christmas Story.” I don’t know…it just annoyed me. I like Die Hard, Elf, and Love, Actually, although I could easily go without watching any of them during the holidays. I actually really like A Family Stone, but it’s hard to watch because it’s so sad. I like lights too, but I don’t agree or disagree about multi-colored. For me it just has to be nicely placed and even. I get OCD with mismatched Christmas lights (some white, some blue, some color) and placed haphazardly. lol! As far as songs, I dislike most but I seriously cry every time I hear Feed the World (Do They Know It’s Christmas). Seriously I was driving to work the other day and it came on and I had to sit in my car for awhile because I was a mess.
Tonya@Budget and the Beach recently posted…November Rewind: Gettin’ Dir-tay
Yes to the Muppet Christmas Carol!!!! Zoe is too young for the Elf right now. I sort of want to do a mellowed version for her. I dont want to move him every day and make a mess all over my house. But if she wants to have one I will do it in some form. It sounds exhausting. And I dont want a creepy as fuck looking one. It is too similar to clowns. *shivers*
I love that you do reindeer food and elf donuts! Cookies are one of the best things about Christmas, and they clearly need to be indulged in. I want to try to bake some this weekend I think. And you are so right about perfectionism. No one has the perfect family, so don’t tell me everything about the holidays is all rainbows and butterflies!!! We all have crazy Aunt Susan, the loser sibling, a dad with a really small fuse, the racist grandparent, the cousin who cant read the room…..someone who you know is going to fuck some shit up.
Nadine recently posted…Bacon Pasta
IMPEACH.
I’m going to throw a three things hail mary tomorrow. I love them.
SMD recently posted…Thursday Thoughts – lord it’s like a hard candy Christmas
I’m glad you did a mishmash of your Christmas and Hanukkah experiences! Okay, Elf on a Shelf is one of the absolute freakiest things in the world. I don’t know what diabolical and evil creature thought of this nightmarish creature that should scare versus enthrall kids. And I don’t even have kids! But seriously. Super weird and scary!
Yes! Whenever I see people post picture-perfect Christmas pictures (or really when ALL their pictures are perfect) I don’t trust them. Life is beautifully messy. I make excellent peanut butter fudge – that is true and real because I posted it on my blog today and the pictures are atrocious. But the fudge is delicious. If we didn’t live at opposite ends of the country, I’d make you some! Fun fact: TSA searched my bag last year because I foolishly wrapped the PB fudge in aluminum foil. Sigh. I’m not Jewish but the few times I’ve had the pleasure of tasting potato latkes – I adored them because potatoes.
I deeply love all the gifts you want to give to the world. #2 is, of course, my absolute favorite. A dream we all dream. Thanks for playing along!
Tanya @ A Mindful Migration recently posted…2017 Holiday Treats Recipe Round-Up
I might “borrow” this too 😉
I love lights! That’s the “tradition” hubs & I have kind of settled on for us/the kids.
Elf on the Shelf is the epitome of having to be perfect, for me…I’m way too lazy of a person/parent for that crap. Some people claim it’s fun for them…but nope. Big fat nope for me.
I had NO idea about the live Christmas Story thing and just saw the ad this week – yeeeeesh. It’s gonna be terrible but I’m still gonna watch. And yes, all i want for Christmas is a Trump impeachment (*fingers crossed*)
Ali recently posted…Christmas Songs, Decoded
Not Jewish but the Chinese food and movie theaters were standard on Christmas day! I used to love it when my mom would suggest sneaking into other movies after the one we paid for was over too. Also not a fan of Christmas music, though I don’t hate that Muppet one. I may have to borrow this idea for next week.
You might understand this: My school is probably 99% Christian, whether that’s celebrating Christmas in a religious or in a secular way.
However, they make a really big deal about how parties and things have to be labeled as “holiday” parties and not Christmas parties.
But then, they have a Christmas program based around Santa choosing a Christmas tree and we all have Christmas trees on our classroom doors as a month-long behavior incentive. It’s so inconsistent and I would be really irritated if I were Jewish, you know?
How does your kid’s school do this?
(Clearly this has been bothering me lol).
1. Christmas preparation increases my anxiety of losing someone sky rocket.
2. The classroom in which I work has an elf on the shelf. I give the teacher a ton of credit because she was kind of backed into a corner. She has really embraced it and it’s fun to watch the kids get excited.
3. My husband loves Christmas and decorating so I try to make a good run at enjoying the season.
Peanut butter fudge and sugar cookies are my favorite at Christmastime, or any time really. Did you watch A Christmas Story Live? The reaction on twitter was all hate. I don’t think people realized it was a movie, adapted to a musical, and then that musical was adapted for tv. Haha! There were some really great moments, but it was mostly bad. I don’t like the movie or the musical though, so I’m not the best judge.
I’d never even HEARD of the Elf on the Shelf until a year or so ago. It struck me then (and still strikes me) as creepy.
Ditto and double ditto on “A Muppet Christmas Carol.” The only thing almost as good was seeing Patrick Stewart do his one-man show of “A Christmas Carol.”
Ditto and INFINITY DITTO on the impeachment. From your mouth to God’s ears.
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