How Do You Know We're Not Jewish???

This has been yet another busy week in our home. Christmas preparations, getting ready to go to Erie next week, teachers gifts to make, cookies to bake, waiting for a snow flake (guess I got carried away with the rhyming...sorry). Well, we really are waiting for a snow flake....or several of them, to be exact. We're expected to get somewhere between 10 & 14 inches today. School was cancelled. The snow is not falling yet, but should start between 9 and noon. That depends on which news station you watch. We get weather reports from New York City, and Albany...so, my best bet is to just look out my window.

I made homemade granola this week, to give to Julie's Kindergarten teacher, the teacher's assistant, her bus driver, and her Sunday School teacher. I've never made it before, but I must say that it turned out delicious. I need to get it all packaged before Dave eats it all. I made gift tags (on the computer, of course, I'm not crafty, remember), for each person. Last night I asked Julie to decorate the tags with a picture, and to write her name on them. For her school teacher, teacher's assistant, and bus driver, she drew pictures of Christmas trees with gifts under them. When it came time to do her Sunday School teachers tag she said, "I think I'll draw her a picture of a Menorah." I replied "that's fine, but she celebrates Christmas, like us." Then Julie asked why, and I said "because we're not Jewish, so we celebrate Christmas, not Hanukkah." Julie asked, "How do you know we're not Jewish?" Well...from here I tried to figure out how to explain to a 5 1/2 year old why we're not Jewish, what being Jewish means, that we're Christian/Protestant/Gentile...something. When actually faced with these questions, it is sometimes hard to figure out how to explain something, so that she can understand. Nevermind, that I won't even get in to the circumcised/uncircumcised issue. :)

Well, we're not Jewish, but I did not have a problem with her drawing a Menorah on her Sunday School teachers gift tag...however, I was slightly puzzled when she included Santa Claus and Rudolph sitting on the Menorah (I can tell that Public School is paying off already...LOL). Below is the back of Julie's gift tag for Miss Lisa, her SS teacher.

Rudolph is the red creature on the right, and Santa is the green one...I have a few questions regarding her drawing of Santa, but I'll save that for a later date. I'm still trying to figure out how to explain "why were not Jewish?"