Do you give gifts for Hanukkah?

[Anonymous]

If so how many and how "big"?

[Anonymous]

In the past we've tended to give a few "bigger" items on the first and second nights, and then the remainder of the nights give something little (I mean really little, like a bag of silly bands) after we light the menorah and play dreidel. Last year we tried to implement a "theme" to each night - one night was music night so everyone got a CD, one night was reading night so everyone got a book, one night was helping others night so everyone picked a place to donate $, one night was food night so we focused on a special sweet treat instead of a gift, etc. I have to say it didn't go over as well as I had hoped - maybe my kids are too young to get the theme concept ... Part of the problem for us is that on most of the nights, school, work, etc. make for a long day so we wind up "crammming in" the Hanukkah celebration at the end of the day - it's like the meaning gets rushed through and thus lost. I think we may just focus on gifts the first few nights this year, and the rest just light the menorah.

[Anonymous]

We do gifts every night, but some nights it may be a gift from grandma or a friend rather than from us. I mix it up between bigger and smaller items, usually saving something big for the last night. One night is always crayons and coloring books and at least one night is books. Other than their birthdays, this is the only time of year they get toys and stuff, so I try to get things they will use for a while.

We do lots of non-gift traditions too, but I don't worry too much about it because Hannukah is a pretty minor religious holiday. We spend a lot more time talking about the meaning of Passover, the high holy days, etc.