When Kai Cutler, age 4, walks into his living room, he sees a Christmas tree topped with a glittering star. That ornament is out of reach, but another decoration nearby hangs at eye level: A fabric menorah with Velcro candle flames. Both are just a few feet away from a small sign that reads, “happy chrismukkah.” Cutler and his parents, who live in San Marcos, are one of many families around the region that celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah, a decision that carries extra resonance this year. Both holidays begin Dec. 25 for the first time in decades — the last time the start of Hanukkah coincided with Christmas Day appears to be 2005 — and that reality can invite questions both logistical and theological. What stories, for example, should be told? For some, the quirk of the calendar offers the chance for a “holiday mash-up.” “We are so excited, because it is the first year our daughter is old enough to enjoy all of the magic of this time of year,” Hayley Noll, a San Diego resident, wrote in an email. When the sun rises, Noll’s family will eat pancakes or waffles and open Christmas presents. Once it sets, they’ll light candles, play dreidel and have a dinner of brisket and latkes. “Neither my wife nor I are very religious, but we want to pass along our family traditions to our daughter,” who is 2 years old, Noll added. For others, faith will be at the center of the day. Elizabeth Griswold, a Carlsbad native, is a minister with the United Church of Christ. Her husband, Seth Castleman, is a rabbi. The pair had only been dating a few weeks when they began discussing what an interfaith marriage might mean for children. “I remember telling him at one point, ‘If I had to decide between this relationship and my ordination, I would choose my ordination, I feel very called to this,’” Griswold said in an interview. And “for a rabbi to be married to somebody who’s not Jewish is pretty much unheard of.” The two had to navigate a number of concerns, such as: Would marrying somehow dilute one or both of their faiths? Then there was the long, sometimes violent history between the two religions, from the Medieval Crusades to World War II, when certain Nazis tried to co-opt Christianity. Castleman was eventually ordained by a group of rabbis from different branches of Judaism, instead of through a single denomination. Griswold in turn agreed to raise their three children Jewish. The family is now part of a Reform synagogue, and while there aren’t trees or lights at home, they’ll celebrate Christmas with relatives. Christianity “is not the one way to God,” Griswold said. “Creating warm family times in the midst of darkness, both physical and metaphorical, is a big part of both traditions.” Christmas and Hanukkah cards decorate the Cutler family home in San Marcos. (Charlie Neuman / For The San Diego Union-Tribune) Amanda and Colin Cutler, the couple with the four-year-old in San Marcos, similarly had to engage with different upbringings. Colin was raised Methodist, so one of the ways Amanda taught him about her Jewish heritage was by screening the Hanukkah episode of the Nickelodeon cartoon “Rugrats.” They also traveled to the Middle East through a program called Honeymoon Israel. That connected them to other interfaith couples, which was especially comforting for Amanda, who grew up on the East Coast where Judaism is more prominent. While Amanda has never felt threatened in Southern California, she certainly feels out of place, and that apprehension has only grown since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack in Israel. When a reporter initially asked if she’d be willing to talk, part of her worried whether it was safe to publicly identify as a Jew. The couple is raising their son Jewish. Colin found he was happy to support his wife’s traditions, and she wasn’t about to have it any other way. “I’m not flexible like that,” Amanda said during a joint interview at their home. “Whereas he really was and is — and so is his family.” That doesn’t mean Kai can’t believe in Santa Claus. Colin certainly did. “He believed until he was 14!” Amanda said. “It might have been, like, 13,” Colin responded. This year “Santa” is bringing Kai a trampoline, science kit and Mario Kart race track for Christmas. The boy’s Hanukkah gifts — Play-Doh, pajamas, coloring books — will be from both parents. Someday, when Kai is older, the Cutlers plan to tell him more about those fabric candles, and the centuries of history they represent. They’ll explain how, in 1938, his great-grandfather had to hide in a closet when Nazis came to his door in Leipzig, Germany. Those relatives then fled to the United States, and one of the only items they were able to bring along was a silver menorah. But for the moment, the main thing Kai knows about this time of year is that the celebration is going to last for eight straight days.