I’ve always been jealous of my Christian friends and TV and movie characters who get to count down sleeps until Christmas, decorate a tree, wake up early to open presents, and have a nice family dinner with decorated cookies. Never having experienced a traditional Christmas, I’m sure I’m romanticizing it a little bit, but there’s no harm in fantasies. My Christmas Day is usually spent like all Jewish stereotypes say: Chinese food and a movie. And while I’m the last person to ever complain about eating Chinese food, I would love to have a real Christmas one day.

I’ve tried to recreate the Christmas joy for myself. I bought a Christmas lights charger that I’ll show off to anyone who will look (the lights even flash!), I listen to Christmas music like everyone else, and I find myself acting more generous around holiday szn too. I’ll admit that I’ve considered decorating my car with reindeer antlers and a nose before just to show off my spirit, and I started looking at ugly Christmas sweaters back in the beginning of October.

Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against Hanukkah. Eight whole days of presents is far from something to complain about. I’d eat potato latkes for days with no objections. Not to mention the fact that a lot of teachers don’t even bother giving homework because they don’t want to interrupt the holiday. And while we can try to draw similarities to Christmas with Hanukkah Harry, Mensch on a Bench (if you know you know), and Hanukkah bushes, getting in the Hanukkah spirit just isn’t the same.

As soon as the calendars turn to December, every radio station flips to Christmas mood and there’s nonstop catchy holiday songs playing. Our favorite singers do covers of Christmas songs, and everyone sings along – it’s impossible not to smile. Even when they hand out music in choir for the Holiday Concert, I find myself skipping right over the one Hebrew song in a minor key (used to demonstrate the diversity and inclusivity of Hall) and getting excited to sing Jingle Bells or whatever other Christmas music ends up in my folder. And how can you not feel jolly when you drive around town and see all the trees and houses with elaborate light decorations? It makes it really hard to get excited over a few candles burning for an hour when there’s all this Christmas cheer around.

So I  say join in. Why feel bad or excluded when my friends excitedly discuss their Christmas Eve and Day rituals? It’s fun to experience other cultures and see what all the hype is about. Just because decorating cookies or trees wasn’t the tradition back at the origin of Hanukkah, that doesn’t mean I can’t still do it today. I’ve been fortunate enough to decorate a Christmas tree twice (shoutout to the Bellucci family for letting me cross that off my bucket list), and I love Secret Santa and singing Christmas carols just as much as anyone else. Who says I can’t celebrate both holidays? I think everyone should get the chance to experience both. So this holiday season, I hope all of you can branch out and find a friend to include in your holiday tradition, no matter what it is. Everyone deserves to be happy around holiday time.