It’s Hanukkah, the most chaotic 8 days you’ll ever have in a year. If you don’t celebrate Hanukkah…well, I’m here to give you some insight on the chaos the rest of us endure.

1. 8 Days of Presents

Moms, Dads, various family, and friends, you thought preparing for 1 day of presents was hard? Finding 1 perfect gift for that special someone to give them? Well, try 8 perfect gifts. Black Friday and Cyber Monday don’t become just hobbies, they become game days.

2. Candles, Kids, and Dogs OH MY

Ok, candles on trees were always a bad time for everyone and we are past that phase. Try putting candles on a window sill and not having one of the kids or pets run into the Menorah and light the house on fire. Also, the extreme number of candles you go through that month is ridiculous.

3. Explaining Christmas

It’s hard to explain to kids that because you’re Jewish…you don’t celebrate Christmas like the other kids. It’s also a nail in the heart when they come home calling it “Christmas Break” instead of “Winter Break” but that’s another story.

4. Hanukkah Harry VS. Santa

At least you get to explain to kids that you get a better version of Santa. Who is Hanukkah Harry? Find out by reading “Who is Hanukkah Harry?”

5. Dreidels

Every year you buy new dreidels because there are always new, cooler, and cuter ones for family and friends. But when you take out your decorations box you find it overstuffed with variously sized dreidels. How to cut back on your dreidel hoarding crazy? You can’t; to us, they are like the ornaments to a tree.

6. Hosting Family

Imagine it’s Christmas and you’re so thankful because soon your various relatives, in-laws, 1^st and 2^nd cousins will finally leave your house and go back to wherever they came from after they’ve stayed their week. Ok. Now imagine them staying longer than 8 days, each night full of chaotic family gossip and an overfull house. Fun.

7. Dinner Time

You saw what happened when you had family over for just the holidays, now imagine feeding them for more than 8 nights. Wow. That’s a lot of food that you must cook, and guess where all the gossip goes down…in the kitchen, with you. Now that you know George is having a secret affair on Stacy with Margaret…what will you do?