We Need a Little (Jewish) Christmas, 2014

One of the greatest mysteries of life is why it is totally impossible to make it through the holiday season without getting sick.  As far as I can tell once you have kids all bets are off and it's pretty much guaranteed that your child will infect you with some sort of antibiotic-resistant playground germ of death that will keep you from being able to enjoy the holiday season.  Last year, we all had bronchitis.  This year, the gift that the Muffin Man keeps on giving is the stomach flu.

On the plus side, it was an excellent way to lose the last of my stubborn baby weight, although in hindsight I think a juice cleanse would've been more enjoyable than twelve hours of vomiting.  That being said, I can now fit into my favorite sequined mini dress!

Too bad getting a babysitter on New Year's Eve is harder than selling a script in this town.

We seem to be on the mend, and thankfully the Little Lady appears to have dodged the stomach virus thus far (knock on wood) so we're now gearing up to enjoy the rest of Hanukkah and get our Christmas celebration on. 

Look, I love Hanukkah; the candles, the food, the story of the oil, and I'm so happy that my kids are being raised in a (mostly) Jewish home.  But I grew up celebrating Christmas, and so did the Hubby, and we really, really like Christmas.  We like the fresh tree.  We like the lights and the presents and Santa Claus and all that crap.  In our defense, we've got menorah lights on our tree, dreidel ornaments, and that Shark Tank favorite the Star of David tree topper, so we're still doing our best to represent for the Chosen People.

Side note: did you know that many of the most popular Christmas Carols were actually written by Jews?

Experiencing the magic of the holidays through our kids is proving to be the best part.  Hearing the Muffin Man say "wow" every morning when he comes downstairs and sees the tree and watching him get excited about opening his Hanukkah presents is wonderful.  It's enough to soften the heart of even the Grinchiest amongst us.

Well that and some delicious mulled wine.