Celebrate Christmas

Patrick addressed the class, "Well, Ms. Jones, me and my twelve brothers and sisters go to the midnight Mass and we sing hymns, then we come home very late and we put mince pies by the back door and hang up our stockings. Then all excited we go to bed and wait for Father Christmas to come with all our toys."

"Very nice, Patrick," she said. "Now, Jimmy Brown, what do you do at Christmas?" Ms. Jones asked.

"Well, Ms. Jones, me and my sister also go to church with Mum and Dad and we sing carols and we get home ever so late. We put cookies and milk by the chimney and we hang up our stockings. We hardly sleep waiting for Santa Claus to bring our presents, " Jimmy replied.

"That's also very nice, Jimmy," she said. Realizing that there was a Jewish boy in the class and not wanting to leave him out of the discussion, she asked Isaac Cohen the same question. "Now, Isaac Cohen, what do you do at Christmas?" she asked.

"Well, we also sing carols!" Isaac responded. Surprised, Mrs. Jones questioned further. "Tell us what you sing," Ms. Jones requested. "Well, it's the same thing every year. Dad comes home from the office. We all pile into the Rolls Royce, then we drive to his toy factory. When we get inside, we look at all the empty shelves and begin to sing, "Joy to the World." Then we all go to the Bahamas."