My parents were afraid that the son would end up spoiling the surprise to me if he lost one too many times to me or my sisters, so we celebrated a fake first night of Hanukkah specifically to tell us we were adopting a dog (this way, the surprise wouldn’t be ruined). Every year since, we have a small celebration the night before Hanukkah begins. We make latkes, play dreidel, and build a fire while watching whatever cartoon comes onto the TV." —dogluver15
