When my son was in grade 1, the teacher asked if the Jewish children in the class would like to sing a Chanukah song at the upcoming seasonal party. They enthusiastically agreed, including my son. When my son reported this to me, I asked him who in the class was Jewish. He mentioned his good buddy: blue-eyed, blonde Mark with-the-very-Scottish-surname. I thought that was very cute – Mark pretending to be Jewish, likely in order to hang with his buddy, my son.

When I bumped into Mark’s mother I told her that we had a good laugh at home at the thought of Mark singing a Chanukah song. She looked at me blankly and then started to laugh. She explained that they’d had the same conversation at their house when Mark came home and reported that my blue-eyed, blonde son with-the-very-WASP-surname had volunteered to sing the Chanukah song. As it happens, both boys are Jewish by virtue of their Jewish moms. Oy!

- Deborah in Toronto