Merry Christmahkkah, Yo.

Our little family is one of mixed religions. My husband, Pete, is a Catholic who follows Lent to about 85% accuracy and goes to church when one of our nieces or nephews makes a Sacrament, and I am Jewish and only lit the Hanukkah candles on night one this year. After that, my son, PJ, was down for the count with strep throat and that was the end of the nightly fire and prayers.

Our apathetic religious feelings aside, it has always been important for us to share the magic and tradition of both holidays with our son. It's truly unfortunate that strep struck this year, because I was looking forward to teaching PJ the Hanukkah prayers and lighting the candles with him. The story of Hanukkah is such a sweet one- the miracle of a tiny drop of oil lasting for eight nights, enough time to rebuild a temple. We missed our chance this year to sit as a family and watch the flames flicker, but next year, PJ will be six by the time Hanukkah rolls around, old enough to hold the candles <i>with no help</i>, a privilege I was so excited to get when I was his age. I'll teach him how to play the Dreidel (a skill I never mastered as a kid) and we'll eat gelt to our hearts content.

As for Christmas, I would love for PJ to know more about the story of the birth of Jesus versus the birth of Santa's chubby butt down a chimney. The whole <i>magical getting presents</i> deal is so much fun, especially since I became a mother. But my Jewish, teenage self was in choir and absorbed the powerful music of the holiday, all of the real <i>take me to church</i> music. I hope we can take him to midnight mass one year. PJ is already immersed in the traditions Pete grew up with, and I would love to not only expand his scope of Christmas in the religious sense, but to begin our own traditions within our little family.

As for this year, there's two nights left of Hanukkah and PJ is healthy, so we will light the candles tomorrow after the sun goes down and pray over the little flames. Tonight, when I was getting PJ ready for bed, I threatened to call Santa and cancel his presents when he balked at taking his amoxicillan (it totally worked! Score!). We do the best we can to merge the two worlds we brought together when Pete and I married and had PJ, and hopefully, the love of the season will cover up any mistakes we make along the way!

Brie Latini is a thirty-something mother, wife, sister, daughter, friend, and fan of guilty-pleasure television. She currently lives in Collingswood, NJ with her husband Pete and son PJ. A work-a-holic turned stay-at-home-mom, Brie is enjoying her emerging second career as a writer as it now gives her a better excuse to pass on housework (“You load the dishwasher; I have to write!”). Brie’s work has been featured at Jersey Moms Blog, Mamalode, and MetroKids Magazine Online. You can read more about Brie’s journey through life as the mother of a special-needs child at her personal blog, {...a breezy life}.

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