One year, my husband and I wanted to do something different to please our teen-aged daughter when Chanukah rolled around again. She was past the age for receiving toys, and she liked to choose her own books from the local New York Public Library.
We knew she could most use (and would most appreciate) some Chanukah gelt, but we did not wish to simply put some in an envelope for her. That would have been far too boring, far too prosaic. So, we waited until she had finally fallen fast asleep. We knew that she slept like the proverbial log, and that nothing short of a 7.0 earthquake could rouse her. Then we crept into her room, armed with little flashlights and a large stack of crisp, new dollar bills that we had gotten from the savings bank earlier in the day. We set to work very quietly on the wall just behind and above her bed. Little by little we positioned and scotch-taped the bills up, taking turns doing the holding and the taping. When we had finished our work, we crept back out as silently as we had entered.
In the morning, our daughter emerged from her room with a great big grin on her face. She had awakened that morning to HAPPY CHANUKAH written on her wall in 45 one-dollar bills!
