"Half Jewish And Half Christmas"

Reflections of a Jewish wife and mother who decided to give her culturally Christian husband and children the gift of Christmas:

Christmas...is a slippery slope. Once you've surrendered, you can't just hang a scrawny fir with costume jewelry. You need one of those trees that takes over the living room; you need ornaments to weigh it down. You need lights, stockings, jingle bells and candy canes. Before I knew it, I was making wreaths, decorating cookies, helping the kids write letters to Santa, leaving out milk and cookies, and a carrot for Rudolph.

What are you? someone asked [daughter] Eliza at her kindergarten holiday party. I'm half Jewish and half Christmas, she said without pause. I had done my job well.