#1. I'm Jewish. So actually I have no business writing about Christmas. Or confessions.
#2. I grew up in a kosher home. We also hung stockings and got presents Christmas morning.
#3. My husband is Christian and we always have Christmas dinner with his parents. He doesn't mind that we don't have a Christmas tree.
#4. I always yearned for a Christmas tree.
#5. I stopped yearning for a tree when my first husband surprised me and the kids one year with a Christmas tree in a box.
#6. I have pictures of me sitting on Santa's lap as a child. And as an adult.
#7. I love Christmas songs. Especially singing them.
#8. When I was a kid, I was afraid something bad would happen to me if I said the word "Christ" when I sang Christmas songs.
#9. I love getting Christmas cards with family pictures. Except the ones that include those annual summaries of astounding achievements by your children.
#10. I am a last minute shopper. This year I don't even have a list yet.
ByJane's 10 Christmas Confessions:
#s 1, 7, 9, and 10 -- ditto
#2 - no to the kosher home; yes to the Christmas stuff
#3 no to the dinner at the inlaws - wait, do my stepkids count? then yes to #3
#4 Along with the stockings and presents, my parents also furnished very nice trees every year.
#8 When I was a kid, my Catholic friends taught me to bob my head when I sang Jesus's name in a carol.
#10 I love the Christmas joy of buying everything on Christmas Eve--plus, the prices are good.
Posted by: ByJane | December 13, 2008 at 12:13 PM
By gosh, ByJane, amazing how we've never met in person yet have so much in common.
Why did you bob your head? There weren't too many Catholics around to teach me that stuff--since I grew up on Miami Beach.
In fact Confession #11:
I lived near St. Patrick's and my secret desire all through childhood was to attend Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.
Posted by: Darryle | December 13, 2008 at 09:59 PM
#11 - My sister, my cousins and I went to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Pittsburgh.
Posted by: ByJane | December 14, 2008 at 11:24 AM