I'm struggling to figure out when/how to celebrate this year. When Jason and Rebekah were little we gave them a present every night of Hanukkah, plus Santa always came, plus there were presents from Mommy and Daddy of course. Somewhere along the way that evolved into presents just the first and last nights of Hannukah. (Plus Santa and Mommy & Daddy at Christmas of course!) This year I'm thinking we should tweak that again.
It makes sense to me to celebrate Hanukkah once this year, right in the middle on Saturday night. Rebekah's invited some friends from school, I'd like to invite Jason, Lori, Matt & Lily, cook like crazy, and just have a great time. The dilemma?
Presents.
I'd like to give Jacob & Julianna one Hanukkah present, at our Hanukkah party. Barring that, I'd like to give them a present that night and a present the last night. Truly not a big deal, we'll figure that one out. Matt & Lily will get their present from us that night as well.
I think we need to get some type of a token gift for each of the college students and Rebekah, Jason and Lori. Mark thinks we should give everyone a bag of gelt and that's it. With Jason, somewhere along the way we stopped giving him a Hanukkah present because, for us, it's really for the kids. It seems like college is a natural time to make that break with Rebekah. However, this is a party and presents seem appropriate to me at a Hanukkah party.
What do you think? Any ideas what you might do? Should I leave it at a token bag of gelt, and if so is it a bad idea to give the younger ones their presents that night? Should I get some sort of token gift for everyone and if so, any ideas? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
7 comments:
what about a token bag of gelt with quarters and dollar coins mixed in for Rebecca. good at vending machines and for laundry. (unless those are all card activated on campus now.) my freshman year of college I asked for quarters for Christmas. Just quarters.
I agree with Emilia. Something small that could be helpful to the college kids. As for giving gifts to the other kids that night i would say wait. For me i would want to avoid hurting feelings. Even if you just wait til later that night after everyone has left. Or you could place them in there rooms for them to find at bed time.
Here's my 2 cents: If they're college kids, don't worry about giving the younger ones their gifts that night. They're not kids anymore, and they should understand that it's for the kids. I think you may be surprised at how maturely they take it. I would make sure I told them ahead of time what I was going to do, that way they'll be prepared.
What's a bag of gelt? (Can you tell I know nothing about Hanukkah?)
One year, when we had all the relatives at our house for a pre-Christmas celebration, I made a "Lucky Dip" for the children/cousins and individually wrapped small items from the $2 shop - things that everyone would be happy to have like chocolate bars, little pizzles, joke books etc. It was easy on the budget and made for a little extra fun.
I think, since you celebrate Christmas too and Hanukkah isn't about gifts anyway (well, technically I know Christmas isn't either but Hanukkah is even LESS about that), you should get everyone (little ones included) a bag of gelt and have a special dinner (you ARE making latkes, aren't you?). Your little ones are big enough to understand that you are changing the way you do things this year, and making the evening about family fun can be just as rewarding as something wrapped in a package. Save the presents for Christmas in this case! JMO.
since i don't know what a bag of gelt is, i'm gonna go with emilia, too. i think quarters is a brilliant idea!
For what it's worth, I think it's fine to give the little kids their gifts that night and give the college kids something small or just chocolate, whatever.
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