With nearly 45 percent of Americans living in mixed-faith families, according to Georgetown.edu, the holidays become a time to respect each others’ religions and religious traditions to maintain balance for the holiday season.

“[Having a mixed faith background] is different because all my friends went to church, but I went to temple with people that I didn’t know. I liked it because everyone was kind of curious about my religion since a lot of them were the same religion and they would ask me questions about it, but I liked that I was different, Danielle Pereira, sophomore whose dad went to a Catholic school and whose mother was born into a Jewish family, said.

“Everyone is curious about the holidays and want to celebrate them with my family and me because it’s so different from their holidays and they’re interested in it,” “I went to a Jewish preschool, so I always knew more about Judaism. We celebrate both Christmas and Hannukah. My family celebrates more Hanukkah, but in respect for my dad, we celebrate Christmas with him. I don’t really know that much about my Dad’s religion, but it’s fun to celebrate it and learn more about it.,” Pereira said.

Families need to decide what holidays to celebrate, who to celebrate with, how to celebrate, and more. Although the decision can be complicated for some families, it can be simple for others.

“[My parents] both decided that they weren’t going to pick a [religion], so my sister and I were both raised as [Jewish and Christian], and later on in life we’ll both get to choose which one we wanted to be or whatever [religion] we wanted to be,” Sarah Shapero, junior whose mother is Christian and dad is Jewish, said. “Every Christmas Eve, my family gets a big platter of seafood, and we get so much that it usually lasts until the next day. When my mom and dad were in college, they went to a seafood restaurant on Christmas Eve so that kind of started the tradition.”

While some families celebrate with religious traditions from both sides, other families choose to solely focus on one. Kerry Alter, sophomore, has parents from both Christian and Jewish religious backgrounds, but her family focuses more on Christianity.

“My mom is Christian and my dad is Jewish, but they chose for me to be Christian because my mom is a practicing Christian and my dad wasn’t practicing his religion anymore. I celebrate Christmas more, but we still put up menorahs and celebrate Jewish traditions with my dad’s family. We do a seder dinner every year and give gifts, but I celebrate Christmas more with my mom’s side of the family kind of in the same way where we have a dinner and give each other gifts,” Alter said.

Although these families choose to focus on one religion more than the other, some families choose to leave the idea of religion completely open to choice. Celebrating the holidays can be anything but typical. While some families may find it challenging, other families find their own ways to blend the holidays, and celebrate both religions.