1. This is really cute. 2. 90% of commentors seem like assholes, nobody cares about your opinion, sit down.

I can relate to this! I grew up in a secular Muslim household, first generation Americans so we really had no clue about Christmas. My parents would get me gifts just so I wouldn’t feel left out from my friends but nobody knew much about the traditions. When I grew up I went Christmas crazy. To me it’s obvious that Christmas doesn’t and never did have shït to do with religion. It’s a holiday for presents, Santa, snow and lights. Those are the true meaning of Christmas. I’m obsessed with giving and receiving gifts, so it works out that I just love Christmas. It’s kind of the only thing I liked about winter for years. Middle eastern people - don’t miss out on Christmas! Santa looks A LOT like Hajji Firuz.

This was really cute and quite sweet. Forget all the snarky Twitter comments saying that you have to be a Christian to celebrate, and enjoy your first Christmas holiday! (Also, I adore the everything bagel ornament.) I enjoy how there are so many unique traditions and ways to celebrate the holiday around the world.

Today (december 21st) I'm celebrating that tomorrow will be a LITTLE bit longer than today (I hate darkness, and it's particularly dark today), I hang some lights and burn some candles to feel some warmth and light in a(n extra) dark winter. I don't have a Christmas tree, but I like the idea of having an evergreen with lights in my living room in the middle of winter (I have enough cacti though, some of them with ornaments right now ;-) ). I really really don't care about baby Jesus. I guess I was a pagan in a previous life.

Forget whatever Twitter replies tell you. Just enjoy your holiday!

Thanks for this, so funny! I would describe myself as a committed, educated Christian and I am sorry that most of us have very little sense of humor. Bet you get some eye-roll comments about “Jesus’ birthday” etc. Hope not too many! But perhaps you are used to it, which is pretty sad. yubarikuk allah ( hope that is the right wording for your particular tradition).

My favorite part was the everything bagel decoration.

"Family Reliquary" I had never thought of it that way, but I have two wooden crates my grandfather built to hold the Christmas decorations while he was in the army (one for the artificial tree, one for everything else). He wound up being stationed various places in the US, Canada and Europe, yet the crates and their contents survived. The idea of them being a 'reliquary' fits quite well, they literally hold the sum-total of the Christmas spirit.

Even though I am an atheist from a Muslim country, I always liked Christmas. It's simply celebrating light in the dark winter with many equivalents in other cultures. Because my husband is German (atheist) I've mastered every tradition in the last quarter of the century, from baking biscuits to choosing the right tree. We don't visit a church though. I have nothing against it, but my husband has no interest. I do not like New Year. I can't understand how or why the year starts in the middle of winter. It's so unnatural.

Great post! The commenters need to chill. The Says Merry Christmas Aggressively Christian "It's about Jesus! you are doing it wrong!" The self important atheist "Christmas traditions are from page traditions" Jaded guy who complains about capitalism on his iPhone "Christmas is a capitalist holiday".

I go all out for Christmas. It's nothing to do with my faith. It's simply the one time of year I can bake every day and nobody asks what's wrong with me!

This made me laugh very hard. Enjoy the TRUE meaning of the season, LOVE, ACCEPTANCE and JOY. And this was a wonderful gift!

Now, someone should try commenting on how costly "EID" can be and watch starting a world war.

Today is the winter solstice!!! Also, I wish the first gov check had come closer to Christmas, or this second one for $600 had come before Christmas. I know I shouldn't complain about free money.

Awww, this is so sweet :)

#3 - stuffing your own stocking:. If you're taking statins chances are what's in there will be a genuine surprise...

Christmas is actually not a stolen Pagan holiday. Every year this lie is told. But if you actually look at the history it becomes very clear.

Don't forget Christmas was placed in December to appropriate Yule, so it isn't all about Jesus at all

I don't know much about religious importance of Christmas but this year I am going to celebrate Christmas with mine n other kids.

Even though my family isn't religious, we still go all-out with Christmas! One of our traditions is that every year, each person in the household gets to pick out one ornament from the store to hang on the tree! It's not very big, but it still feels special. My favorite ornament is still the acoustic guitar I got when I was like 5-6.

We do the gift exchange/stealing thing, with a ballpark money limit. The only rule seems to be no gag gifts, or blantantly awful choices, and usually no homemade gifts or foods. However, last year, I chose the most ordinary looking bag, as I believe they contain the best gift, and I was right. . . 7 lbs. of tri-tip, ready for marinating & bbqing. (insulated bag) I made the seagull noise, "MINE!", And nobody had the heart to steal it from me!

MMShill"Oh, please DO tell about angel-topper people. They crimes must be exposed and punished!

Since we are on the topic of Christmas, I would like to see a debate: which one do you do? 1. The presents get put under the tree late Christmas eve night, then everyone else sees them in the morning 2. The presents get put under the tree as they are recieved from relatives, Amazon, etc. 3. I do it the German way: I, the mother, lock the door to the Christmas tree room, and no one else can see the tree but me. I put up all the ornaments and presents myself. And when the time comes, I ring a little bell and open up the room, and everyone can see the beautiful tree (this is what happens in the nutcracker btw)

Until this year Christmas was the best day of the year to go to movies. No matter how big a blockbuster it is there's always plenty of seating. And it's a big day for Chinese restaurants, the traditional gathering place for Jewish families on that day.

I think everyone should celebrate christmas. It's not about christianity (apart from the name). It's about family - whether blood or other. It's that opportunity to have one time a year to just slow down and put aside our differences and to take a moment to remind the people (and animals/pets) in our lives that we care and that we're still here for each other.

I'm glad you are learning to enjoy American Christmas. Wait until you experience it elsewhere and have to learn a whole new set of rules. Like everything geography changes most beliefs and customs.