Here's What Makes A Good Chrismukkah

Primetime soap opera The O.C.taught me invaluable life lessons over the course of its four-season run: avoid burning candles inside a half-built model home, don't be the high schooler who chugs too much coffee before a comic book pitch meeting, and never underestimate Julie Cooper. But perhaps most importantly of all, The O.C. introduced me to the magic of Chrismukkah. Raised in an interfaith household, Seth Cohen created the holiday in order to honor both his mother's Christianity and his father's Judaism. In Season 1, he explains the inspiration behind the Hanukkah/Christmas hybrid celebration to Ryan Atwood, the newest addition to the Cohen family:

So what's it gonna be, huh? Your menorah or your candy cane? Hmm? Christmas or Hanukkah? Ah! Don't worry about it, buddy, because in this house, you don't have to choose. Allow me to introduce you to a little something I like to call Chrismukkah.

Chrismukkah is, as Seth points out, "unruinable," because it has "twice the resistance of any normal holiday" — but that does not mean it does not require any effort to pull off. Season after season, Sandy Cohen and Kirsten Cohen's biological son makes it abundantly clear that it takes a great deal of preparation to properly celebrate Chrismukkah; this is not a holiday that can be phoned in (lookin’ at you, Talk Like A Pirate Day).

What does celebrating Chrismukkah entail, exactly? What makes a good Chrismukkah? Here's a handy dandy pie chart that'll ensure you observe the holiday the Seth Cohen way:

Image: Fox; Dawn Foster/Bustle