"Well, because I have twin seven-year-old boys, I enjoy the gift giving stuff a great deal. We do both Hanukkah and Christmas, so it is a costly, though extremely pleasing proposition"
About this Quote
The subtext is a quietly modern kind of American pluralism. "We do both Hanukkah and Christmas" lands less like a theological statement than a logistical one, the way families talk when traditions have blended into a shared calendar of obligations and delights. There's an implicit negotiation behind that "we": partners, grandparents, school expectations, peer culture, the whole ecosystem that decides what a family "does" in December.
Calling it "costly" is both confession and release valve. It acknowledges the pressure to perform generosity in a season that monetizes love, while also insisting that the money isn't only coercion; it's willingly spent because it buys a particular kind of intimacy. "Extremely pleasing proposition" is tellingly corporate language for an emotional ritual, a wink at how adulthood reframes magic as budgeting. Melamed isn't defending consumerism so much as describing how it sneaks into family joy: expensive, exhausting, and still, in the moment of a kid tearing wrapping paper, worth it.
Quote Details
| Topic | Parenting |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Melamed, Fred. (2026, January 15). Well, because I have twin seven-year-old boys, I enjoy the gift giving stuff a great deal. We do both Hanukkah and Christmas, so it is a costly, though extremely pleasing proposition. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/well-because-i-have-twin-seven-year-old-boys-i-162839/
Chicago Style
Melamed, Fred. "Well, because I have twin seven-year-old boys, I enjoy the gift giving stuff a great deal. We do both Hanukkah and Christmas, so it is a costly, though extremely pleasing proposition." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/well-because-i-have-twin-seven-year-old-boys-i-162839/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Well, because I have twin seven-year-old boys, I enjoy the gift giving stuff a great deal. We do both Hanukkah and Christmas, so it is a costly, though extremely pleasing proposition." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/well-because-i-have-twin-seven-year-old-boys-i-162839/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.





