Re: Wat do you tell ur kiddies abt Christmas?
I agree with you Ira, about making Eid really super-special. Yet...I dont think that Muslim kids necessarily get confused over Christmas. Its all in what and how you tell them yeah?
We live in USA, in a mainly Christian neighborhood. So here, christmas is a BIG deal and not so much a big deal for Eid (out in the community I mean). If we were in Pak, then it would be the other way around. The thing is, both are good reasons to celebrate, to share in the joy of the season, to get together with family and to learn about the spirit of giving.
I dont see the need (Islaamically or otherwise) to deprive my kids of either one of these very special holidays and they arent confused about it at all. There was another Muslim family in our neighborhood and they too had it down very nicely with their kids. They made a small christmas and a very large Eid and the mom would go to her kids' classrooms on Eid, give a presentation, wear traditional clothes and then pass out little gift bags to each kid in the class. The kids all LOVED it and went around saying Eid MUBARAK to each other the whole week.
You can adapt without losing cultural or religious identity...takes work but IMHO it is well worth the extra effort.