Hauling Out the Holly

Even though I'm Jewish, we always celebrated Christmas growing up. My dad is Catholic, and my mom was raised in a country where everyone was Catholic. I apologize if this is insensitive or offensive to Christians, but my mom always taught us about Christmas from a more objective perspective. We learned from an early age that Christmas was about peace, joy, and love for God and your fellow man.

In hindsight, I suppose that's a good way to explain it in an Interfaith household. Now that I'm married to a Christian, we often discuss how we'll handle such an education with our future children. In the meantime, we enjoy creating a festive environment around the house for Christmas, Hanukkah, and the New Year. There are a few images of angels, but for the most part, the theme in our decor is joy and fun. And also Disney.

Yes, our tree topper is the Claymations walrus. We named him Smallrus.

{Will Vinton's Claymation Christmas / via eBaum's World}

I told you the theme was fun! It may not be traditional, it may not even be politically correct, but it works for us. Nothing puts me in the Christmas spirit more than coming down the stairs to find an intoxicating evergreen scent, Elf on the TV, and random accents of Mickey in a Santa hat. That, and baking. More on that later...

Does your holiday decor have a theme?