A Poem by Me

Twas the day after Christmas, and all through my home
The floor was all covered with packaging foam.
The stockings were flung by the couch without care
And emptied soon after St. Nick had been there.

My family was napping in cribs and on couches
‘Cause sugar overloading had made them all grouches.
And the babe in his sleeper and I with my phone
Had just settled down for some time all alone.

When the thought to my mind arose with such force,
There’s so much to clean up, so PANIC of course!
Away to the kitchen I flew like a flash
To see all the messes and new-presents stash.

The lights on the tree that once had been so sweet
Just lit up the mess that now littered my feet.
Then what to my wandering eyes should appear
But even more stuff! And not one surface clear.

With a nod of my head, so lively and quick,
I went straight to work with the speed of St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles, I swept through the room
While I whimpered and pouted and reached for the broom.

“The boxes! The used bows! The piles of gift wrap!
The toys! The small pieces! The messes of big crap!
From the tops of the tables, To the ends of the hall!
Now put away! Put away! Put away all!”

My eyes—how they widened! The messes, how many!
My cheeks were a huffing, the toys were a plenty!
My own little mouth I stuffed with candy a bit
As I found the last pieces with wrappers on it. 

I was dressed in my jammies from head to my toes.
I didn’t get dressed, but just picked up the bows.
A bundle of toys were all spread from their packs
And I picked them all up with some strain in my back.

I picked up the wrapping and boxes galore.
I picked up the new trains and the puzzles some more.
I put away leftovers and made a big stack
Of unused paper plates, now returned to their pack.

I hung the new clothes in my closet quite nicely
And folded the things for my drawers so precisely.
I put away candy and treats way up high
Away from the reach of my sweet little guys.

I assembled new toys and pulled off new tags,
I put away games and the Christmas gift bags.
I was feeling quite good and thought I was done,
But found one messy spot, just the final last one!

So I peeked in the sink, and despite my best wishes
Found a towering pile of gross dirty dishes!
So I sighed a big sigh, so tired and meek,
“Merry Christmas to me—these can wait til next week!”

I wrote this amusing little ditty on the day after Christmas in 2019 and I remember and look back on it every 26th of December since.

I specifically remember that morning, the 26th, looking at the disaster my house was. We’d just celebrated 3 back-to-back Christmas parties (yes, THREE, on the 23rd, 24th, and the 25th), and everything (food, candy, presents, wrapping paper, EVERYTHING!) from those three days had been piled in small mountains throughout my entire kitchen and family room. Opening our own gifts on Christmas morning had only doubled the happy mess.

Further, my boys (ages 3, 1, and 4 months) had received a little kiddie table that we’d assembled, but then those curious toddlers of mine had decimated the Styrofoam packaging and spread the itty bitty white chunks EVERYWHERE. As if that wasn’t enough, my two older boys had received a set of wooden building blocks each, which were also COSNSTANTLY strewn across the floor. How many times that day did I pick up those wooden blocks? Too many to count.

And so I woke on the 26th and that was the state in which I found my home. It was a comical amount of mess, so much so that I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. We really romanticize Christmas Eve and Christmas, I thought, but no one ever talks about the huge mess it leaves behind!

And so this amusing little poem was inspired and written that very day. And I’ve loved it and laughed at myself ever since.

Still, despite the mess, I will always remember that Christmas, and the many others I have celebrated and will celebrate in the future with my fun, happy, and messy family, as good times full of celebration, togetherness, gifts, and overall happiness.

So despite my poking a little fun here, I will paraphrase a quote my favorite Christmas story, with a little twist for my own use:

Though Christmas causes the LARGEST mess of the entire year, “I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!”