Ode to co-existing

So now that Aziza is old enough to know that Santa is really just a figment of her imagination, I've been feeling more inclined to celebrate Hanukkah the last couple of years, since I am half Jewish. I'm on my second menorah. The first was very pretty, gold finish, and required those very, very slender candles that you put in and burn every night. I liked that one but the candles burned so quickly and then it was over. My new one with pretty blue lights stays lit while a new light is turned on each of the eight nights. I wanted Aziza to embrace the story of the lamp oil lasting eight nights, and if that did happen, it was quite a miraculous event.
 
So this year, we have a Christmas tree because that's what she knows from her Santa days, and we have our menorah. Incidentally, I said to Aziza the other night, "Listen, you will get one big present on Christmas day and then one gift every night of Hanukkah." Wow! If I didn't just tell her they stopped making peanut butter... she went crazy, saying "What?? I don't care about being Jewish, I'm not religious, that's your thing." I was floored at her outburst, stemming from the fact that she is pissed she won't get all her gifts on Christmas, and I responded with, "Well, what do you think Christmas is? If that's the case, and you don't care about religion, we should take the tree down right now and forget Christmas too." She was like, "Yeah, but the Christmas tree is for the aesthetic of the season, and honestly, it didn't matter to me if we had it or not."
 
She is so funny! She begged me to put up a Christmas tree this year after we only did Hanukkah last year and she said it was SO boring. I agreed even though I knew the cats would terrorize it, which they have done quite successfully. But it makes no difference how logical I think I'm being, she finds her way to one-up me with her own invented logic. Basically, I'm discovering my daughter is one of those "my way or the highway" people. Great! *says sarcastically* I think it's the invincibility of a teenager that makes them think that everything should just automatically go their way. Wow, rude awakening on life's horizon! I'm still moving forward with the one gift a night for eight nights. Let her learning process begin!

Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, and Happy Festivus!