For me, decorating a Christmas tree and setting out stockings is one of my favorite traditions of the year, and my husband loves it too.

Our kids are happy Bay Area children with some exposure to most flavors of religious beliefs and happily partake in traditions of all sorts. My family is culturally Christian but not at all religious, my husband's family is Muslim, and we are both atheists. I don’t want to hurt them, yet I’m still yearning for a tree. Like, you really are not like where and what you came from. My husband says that for them, a tree is a big sign of assimilation. Anyway, my in-laws happened to see our tree in the background on Skype. I love decorating for the seasons and especially love the pretty lights of this time of year. We also had tons of snowflakes and menorahs and holiday lights in and outside the house. There’s no religious element. One year we did pick out and decorate a tree with lights and tons of blue and silver Stars of David. Each year we throw a fun Christma-Hannu-Kwanzika party- a mish mash of music food and white elephant fun. My family isn’t religious and I don’t believe in God (and neither does my husband), so the holidays for us are simply a time of family togetherness and enjoying special scenes around town.

I’d love for our family to pick out a real Christmas tree each year, bring it home, decorate it with the littles, and just have the magic of the scene, but my husband is afraid it will hurt his Orthodox Jewish parents.

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