Local zoo - attending nighttime Xmas hours?

amother

Today at 1:05 pm

we have annual passes to our local zoo. ordinarily they close at like 5pm, but they have night hours during december.

the main purpose of the night hours is because they have lots of xmas stuff going on and it's officially marketed as a xmas thing -- lights, trees, santas, the whole 9 yards. however, our kids really like animals and it's a special opportunity to see the animals at night which is a totally different experience than the day time.

we're OOT and our kids aren't sheltered from xmas stuff. they see all the houses with decorations and lights in our neighborhood, and see all the trees in stores. the kid who is old enough to know what's going on is well aware of what xmas is and knows that xmas is other peoples' holiday.

FOR more MO-leaning and OOT people ONLY (I.e., those who are exposed to xmas stuff and aren't in a very in-town bubble): would you bring your kids to the zoo for the nighttime xmas hours? surely it's not assur; it's just a question of values and whether it's a good idea or not. I think the benefits outweigh the costs and I think exposing the kids to xmas and making them confident in our holidays and to enjoy our holidays is a good thing.

Ellie7

Today at 2:19 pm

We do this. My kids (at least my oldest—6) totally gets that this is not our holiday. And we go pretty big for Chanukah (yard inflatable, party, etc.). But we’re not going to lose out on experiences my kids enjoy just because they’re x-mas-branded.