Need some input from my Jewish friends out there! Yikes! Accidentally slipped and wished my Jewish family a "merry christmas". Dad looked pretty miffed. Have I offended him? We made sure we included Hanakkah in our Holiday theme this month. I think he's mad. Oh no I feel awful.

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Wondering this also. Jewish family here got me some gifts, and said merry christmas to me. BUT I have gift for her child, not sure if child should open here, or if I should say its Hanukkah gift??

I dont see how he can be miffed, its not like he sent to a Jewish daycare.

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personally, I believe that if someone from another religion blesses me in a way that's meaningful to them, I would take it as a gift, not an insult. I don't know your dc dad, so I don't know how he felt.

If he's annoyed, he'll go home and complain to spouse, who will probably remind him of the nice things you did for Chanuka???

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I'm sure you are not the first person to wish him a Merry Christmas. You didn't mean it to insult him or anything. It's the Christmas season and many of us say Merry Christmas. I'm sure there are people who said worse to him

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I don't celebrate Christmas, but I am never offended when someone extends a holiday greeting. It is viewed as polite as "Have a nice day."
You can apologize to dcd, remind him that it is something you say to everyone this time of year and it slipped because of habit. Acknowledge his holiday, such as asking what are his holiday plans, so forth. Beyond that, his feelings are in his control.

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Ask the parents how they would prefer it to be handled. That would clear up any confusion.
We talk about how important open communication is in this business, right?

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This is one of the reasons why I make it a habit to say Happy Holidays instead lol. If it bothers you that much why not just give him or DCM a call (if you feel more comfortable talking to her) and explain that it was a slip up and really didn't mean it. I'd feel like a goof too if I did that but I'm sure your DCD will understand.

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I texted him "oops sorry, meant to say Hanakkah, my apologies". Got no reply. . He's a super guy, but I bet he gets sick of it this time of year.

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I agree.

At my former center there was a Jehovah Witness family who wanted special considerations esp around the holidays. The mother didn't want her son to be in my classroom while we said the Pledge of Allegiance (because of under God, but that changed quickly because the boy was a bully and we were not going to put him in another room), didn't want me to do Christmas crafts when he was there etc etc. She wanted nothing said about God whatsoever.

Anyway, one day we were outside and this mother was in the process of dropping of the boy. She was sitting on bench saying bye to him. I had my back turned to another child and I hear a sneeze. I said oh God bless you! I turned at that moment and realized it was the boy that sneezed. The mother just glared at me. I said opps sorry. I walked away. The mother never said anything to me but I was embarrassed. It's not like I did it to be mean...just a force of habit.

Some people need to grow up.

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This lady was just a B&%$# then because I have several friends that are Jehovah's Witnesses and have even studied with them and they have all always said "God bless you" when someone sneezed. They also have never objected to their kids saying the pledge of allegiance, doing holiday crafts etc.

I also had a client once that was JW and even they didn't mind my crafts or coloring pages etc that had to do with Jesus, they did however request that I not give their child a Christmas present so I didn't. I did ask them if it was okay for me to give him an early gift just to show how special he was to me and they were fine with it as long as I didn't call it a Christmas gift.

I've never heard of a JW not wanting anyone to talk about God or Jesus, if anything all my friends ever do IS talk about God and Jesus lol. I do know that they don't like talking about saints and don't celebrate birthdays and have a thing against crucafixes, and none will allow their child to participate in sex ed. but nothing like what you described. That lady is cookoo .

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I have a family where dad is a jehovahs witness and I almost said Merry Christmas to him but bit my tongue. He is a super nice guy and doubt he would have taken offence but I still would have been embarassed. If they don't want there kids subjected to things they don't believe in or celebrate then they need to go else where.

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Oh, no, not at all. They are SUPER tolerant and not at all worried about us "subjecting" their boy to anything. They don't mind our "holiday" crafts and stuff. Super nice, wonderful family. We're a totally secular preschool anyways. I'M the one who is worried I offended HIM. He's my favorite dad, really nice guy. I'm bummed I said something that may have seemed, I dunno, thoughtless or disrespectful. Or worse yet, snarky, because I DIDN'T mean to, it was just a slip. I'm mortified.

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I would not worry about it.... I don't announce this much, but I don't belive in the same god as most of you do. I will even often wear a sari and people will always tell me Have a Merry Christmas etc. I look at it with great thanks, knowing that they are just sending me holiday wishes.

Sometimes people just don't know what to say right away and saying Merry Christmas is a nice habit we have around the holidays...

I would not get worked up over it.... I am sure he realizes this....

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Thanks soooo much Daycare! thank you thank you!!!!!!

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of course!!!! however you are very sweet for even to be worried about it!!

Relax and start your christmas break!!!! I only have one kid tomorrow until noon, so I am already celebrating by baking tons of breads and cookies!! that i wont eat..lol

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I wouldn't worry about it! With every religion there are these days it is very hard to keep up with what everyone believes in, what holidays they worship, what is appropriate to say, etc.

Let me tell you a story that I hope will bring laughter to you Sugar because it was actually comical.

My husband has coached for years and years and years. Well he had this one child for a long time in the sport he coached. The mom helped alot and we had a end of the season party around the holidays. My husband went out and bought a lovely ornament for this lady, put it in a bag, the whole bit. Well, he presented it to the lady and told her how much she was appreciated and then said "Merry Christmas". This lady smiled and said thank you but I'm Jewish!!!! I looked at my husband and mouthed Happy Hanakah! We had known her for years and never knew she was Jewish. Her husband was Catholic so we assumed she was also. Looking back on it it is very comical and she took no offense to it at all but the look on my husbands face was priceless.

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I normally don't go out of my way to say Merry Christmas unless they say it first (we are non religious, but celebrate the secular Christmas) I guess it's also easier for me too because both of my families DO celebrate CHristmas. BUT also, my boyfriend's grandmother and step-grandfather are Jewish but still celebrate the secular Christmas as well (we often eat supper there, and exchange gifts with them)

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Exactly!! Maybe he had a bee in his butt over something else and not you saying "Merry Christmas"? I have never met anyone of another religion who were offended by the sentiment.

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hahahah bee in the butt....lol Yes perhaps this was the case...

Someone asked me yesterday why I celebrate christmas. I told them my children get to choose their religion, it is a choice and they both chose to be Christian.

I do my best to understand them and vice versa. It'a america People FREE to decide who you will be... I love USA....

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I have a family who are athiest. They don't believe in any God or religion of any kind. That paticular dad told me Merry Christmas and I told him Thank you, and "Merry Christmas to you too". He said "Thank you". He didn't act funny or irritated. After our conversation, it occured to me that he doesn't celebrate Christmas and that I might have offended him, then I realized that he didn't act offended, so I just let it go and never felt the need to bring it up again. I think that most people of different religions/non-religions typically just take it like someone here posted - as a nice greeting/wishing you well type saying. I don't think most people take offense if you either don't know of their beliefs or simply out of habit wish them a happy/merry whatever holiday you are used to saying.

Yeah, I guess it would be easier if everyone got into the habit of saying happy holidays as a generic holiday greeting since there are so many different beliefs.

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We're not Jewish but our last name sounds like it could be. We were at a dr. appointment for my son once and the dr. wished us a Happy Hanukkah. We must have looked a little surprised because she picked up on it immediately and became very embarrassed. She apologized profusely for making that mistake but we weren't upset or offended at all. I felt bad that she felt so bad. I can't imagine being offended by someone else's attempt to wish me happiness. Hopefully, your dcd just had other things on his mind and it just seemed as if he were miffed at you.

It's possible that he didn't receive your text message or didn't have time to reply and that's why he didn't respond.

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I think most people just go with the flow this time of year. I got a Christmas card from a Jewish friend and a Hanakkuh card from another. When I can find them (not really available around here), I send them Hanakkuh cards. I also have friends who are atheist, pagan, wiccan. and agnostic. If I know of their celebrations, I try to send them an email with appropriate wishes. None of them take offense if my greeting is different from theirs. Nor do I. We know that the words aren't important, the wishes are.

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A lot of folks just say Merry Christmas as a salutation...regardless of their religion.....much the same as wishing someone love, health and happiness and good cheer etc.

I wouldn't worry about it....I am sure he knows you said it in good cheer and meant no offense.

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It is not about what another persons religion is but a wish from my heart and my religion to them when I wish everyone a Merry Christmas. I believe in God and am sharing the spirit of good tidings. If someone is of another religion that receives my wishes and becomes offended it is not my problem it is theirs and just shows that they are selfish and self-absorbed. So...
Merry Christmas

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I wouldn't worry too much about it. If it bothers you that much just call him up and say Happy Hannukah!

I wouldn't be offended if someone said Happy Hannukah to me. I'd probably say "Thanks! Same to you!"

As far as the Mom that was offended when you said "God Bless You", she needs to get over herself.

There is something called Tolerance that she needs to learn about.

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I think anybody who is offended by this IS too self absorbed and easily offended.

But, I think you read his response wrong. He probably wasn't angry at all. If he's as great as you say, I bet he was just thinking "Ya, ya.. whatever", but not annoyed.

There are so many different religions around here, that it's hard to keep track of them all. I say "Merry Christmas", and they can say whatever they want to me, and I feel happy that they like me enough to include me in their well wishes.

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