Tonight's the last night of Chanukah, so it's a good time to summarize what's happened over this past week:
The holiday has been pretty enjoyable. My wife made delicious latkes and special holiday cookies. We also decided to jump on the presents bandwagon this year to ensure that our daughter will always have a positive feeling toward Chanukah. We've been giving her one gift each night of the holiday and she's really enjoyed tearing open the wrapping paper and trying her "prizes". She refuses to touch the candles (a good thing, I guess) and she cries whenever we start to sing (she only likes to sing her songs), but we consider the plan an overall success.
We went to a couple of parties during the holiday. The first was a Sat. night party for our friends' daughter who turned two. They had a lot of family in town, so the place was pretty full. We debated buying a gift and decided, at the last moment, to do so. We were lucky to find a "Mrs. Potato Head" at the Rite Aid and even luckier that the birthday girl did not yet own one. She really liked it (for two seconds until her next gift arrived).
The next night we attended my wife's family's Chanukah party. Her sister lives down in Silver Spring and she came in with her husband and three kids as well as her brother/sister in-law and their two kids and her parents-in-law. My father-in-law and his wife hosted. My wife's aunt and uncle were also there. And, for a "family" party, it really wasn't all that bad. The kids got tons of gifts and enjoyed playing with each other. My daughter finally warmed up near the end of the party and played with Vovo (wife's sister's father-in-law), but I wasn't feeling so great so we had to leave soon after the dinner was done.
I've been celebrating at school as well. On Friday the kids got to have a Color War, so that meant no real classes. And I also like to light the candles at the start of each of my classes and then sing the first verse of Maoz Tzur. As jaded as these kids are, they seem to appreciate this form of celebration.
Speaking of lighting candles... This year I purchased ready-to-light oil containers for my menorah. The irony is that while the holiday celebrates the miracle of one cruse of oil lasting for eight days, my lights - which are meant to last for hours - have struggled to remain lit for more than a half hour. Although I guess irony is also a big theme of the holiday (many vs. few)...
And, so, another Chanukah draws to a close.
The holiday has been pretty enjoyable. My wife made delicious latkes and special holiday cookies. We also decided to jump on the presents bandwagon this year to ensure that our daughter will always have a positive feeling toward Chanukah. We've been giving her one gift each night of the holiday and she's really enjoyed tearing open the wrapping paper and trying her "prizes". She refuses to touch the candles (a good thing, I guess) and she cries whenever we start to sing (she only likes to sing her songs), but we consider the plan an overall success.
We went to a couple of parties during the holiday. The first was a Sat. night party for our friends' daughter who turned two. They had a lot of family in town, so the place was pretty full. We debated buying a gift and decided, at the last moment, to do so. We were lucky to find a "Mrs. Potato Head" at the Rite Aid and even luckier that the birthday girl did not yet own one. She really liked it (for two seconds until her next gift arrived).
The next night we attended my wife's family's Chanukah party. Her sister lives down in Silver Spring and she came in with her husband and three kids as well as her brother/sister in-law and their two kids and her parents-in-law. My father-in-law and his wife hosted. My wife's aunt and uncle were also there. And, for a "family" party, it really wasn't all that bad. The kids got tons of gifts and enjoyed playing with each other. My daughter finally warmed up near the end of the party and played with Vovo (wife's sister's father-in-law), but I wasn't feeling so great so we had to leave soon after the dinner was done.
I've been celebrating at school as well. On Friday the kids got to have a Color War, so that meant no real classes. And I also like to light the candles at the start of each of my classes and then sing the first verse of Maoz Tzur. As jaded as these kids are, they seem to appreciate this form of celebration.
Speaking of lighting candles... This year I purchased ready-to-light oil containers for my menorah. The irony is that while the holiday celebrates the miracle of one cruse of oil lasting for eight days, my lights - which are meant to last for hours - have struggled to remain lit for more than a half hour. Although I guess irony is also a big theme of the holiday (many vs. few)...
And, so, another Chanukah draws to a close.
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