I remember reading an article in one of the Jewish newspapers a few years ago about a Jewish school in NYC taking their eighth grade class to see Richard Dawkins speak. The teacher quoted said something like, "We want to expose the kids to different beliefs, rather than just tell them that this and only this is the right one." One of the kids said something like, "I liked that he answered our questions like we were adults. Also, I thought it was interesting, because my dad's an atheist."

Though I'm not too fond of Dawkins, that still sounds way more interesting than my Jewish education -- the only field trips I can remember were to the Jewish Museum and to a matzo factory. Also a few to nursing homes where we'd sing holiday songs.

The teacher quoted said something like, "We want to expose the kids to different beliefs, rather than just tell them that this and only this is the right one." One of the kids said something like, "I liked that he answered our questions like we were adults. Also, I thought it was interesting, because my dad's an atheist."

Huh. That sounds really cool.

Poor Ginger & Mr. Peabody. Really, truly, consider taking him to a specialist.

Also, considering the valium they give to dogs is for rectal use, I would suggest seeing your own doctor for a prescription.

I am full of good advice!

Jessica, our neighborhood has a Children's Minyan, which is more potluck than G_d, and held at someone's house at appropriate holidays. A rabbi is there, but we don't have to join any institution.

I had an odd conversation with some Jewish friends about Christmas specials on TV. There was an article in Slate a few years ago about how it seemed like Jewish kids mostly watched "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" much more than any other specials. My informal poll of my friends bore that out. I was coming up with a bunch of theories as to why. When I talked to my dad about it, he gave me his usual "You are thinking way too much about this" look and said, "Those are the ones with the best music."

But my theory is that, unlike a lot of the other Christmas specials, those two have basically the same message -- Christmas isn't about the presents and trees and Santa and all the other flashy stuff. I think the message that our parents kind of wanted us to get was, "See, you're not missing out on Christmas. All that shiny stuff isn't REALLY Christmas."

Decent message. But a pretty big number of us said that, as kids, our emotional reaction was more along the lines of, "You kids with Santa and trees and presents, you're doing it WRONG. I know better than you, and I can now feel smug in my knowing-more-ness." Not exactly the right reaction, but I guess it's a natural one for an elementary school kid.

Good night, Ginger-- that is just way too much doggie drama for color tv. Hope things settle down the rest of the day.

While we have no particular religious affiliations other than non-practicing Jew and non-practicing Catholic, I will be shredding sweet potatoes later to make latkes. Because they're really good.

There was an article in Slate a few years ago about how it seemed like Jewish kids mostly watched "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" much more than any other specials.

Is that so different from what Christian kids watch? Are there more explicitly religious Christmas specials aimed at kids that are shown every year on network TV?

Happy Hanukkah! Any holiday with candles and fried potatoes is clearly made of pure awesome.

Ugh, Ginger, the dog drama (and, damn, a dog next door who can undo latches? Impressive, and terrifying). I'm vibing hard for a good healthy outcome for Mr. Peabody, and also that he pees right quick so you don't have to spend too much time following him around with cotton balls on a stick. But, mostly, that everything works out for him, and you and he and the vet work out something that does as well for him as Sass's meds do for her.

Bah, the date was filled out wrong by the JP on our marriage certificate. So, it has to be sent back to him and then sent back to city hall. No name changing for me today and no check cashing either. Christmas shopping with Mom instead.

Aw, sj, after all that having to work yourself up to it. Will it be ready to try again for onerous task day?

Christmas shopping with mom is good.

Is that so different from what Christian kids watch? Are there more explicitly religious Christmas specials aimed at kids that are shown every year on network TV?

I think the point was more that the Jewish kids weren't watching Frosty and Rudolph and stuff like that as much as the Christmas-celebrating kids were. I have no actual figures to bear this out, but I do know that my parents tended to try to kind of limit the Christmas deluge, so they'd try to not let us watch every single Christmas thing on TV. Not so much a particular objection to Rudolph, more just, "We'll let the kids watch some of these, but we'll turn it off when we've had enough Christmas." But Charlie Brown Christmas was something we looked forward to and made a point of watching, and the Grinch was one that we usually saw. A bunch of my friends said similar things. But I have no idea whether this holds true for anyone outside my group of friends and that Slate writer's group of friends. (And the writer's group also watched "The Year Without a Santa Claus," which I hadn't seen until last year and doesn't fit into my theory, so I'm conveniently ignoring it.)