Cravernak Holiday Poem 2013

‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the city

Folks stapled lights onto siding to make houses look pretty.

Aeli’s sinuses didn’t like the jarring changes of weather,

So he sniffled and snuggled while his mom tried to get it together.

Balloons were strewn everywhere: wreckage from the weekend’s fete,

Laundry perpetually unfolded; cards not addressed yet.

Carrie paced the house, which was a shotgun,

And took inventory of the things to be done.

Having assessed the mess, and written down the to-dos,

She decided to lay down with A, and have a good snooze.

When she awoke, she decided, she’d feel a lot better,

And finally write the fam’s Christmas letter.

Wait though, should the epistle’s label be one-denominational?

No: Christhanksgivvukah + Solstice + Birthday Celebrational.

Here is the news in this fun month of festivus,

Mostly about Aeli, but a little re: the rest of us.

You might recall a snug little trooper,

Who crawled and then walked and never was a party-pooper,

He’s still all that, but gee-whiz has he grown,

He even goes potty (almost) completely on his own.

He speaks in full sentences, writes and reads most letters,

He’s good at throwing and catching, and always getting better,

He’s got a penchant for puzzles, and baseball, and art,

And a sense of humor that leads to lots of laughs about farts.

Stefin and Carrie are still pretending to be grown-ups,

And bought a house this year, although it feels like they don’t know enough

About plaster and foundation and old plumbing glitches,

Thank goodness for experienced friends, who help with some fixes.

Here’s a fact to nerd out on, in a “This Old House” type of way:

The main water line to our house was made out of clay!

Apparently this is how they did it back in the day,

And our house is quite old. (We replaced the line.) Yay!

The pretend grown-ups are still teaching, still working in schools.

Although they often wonder if they really need so many rules,

They are grateful for their work and for being employed,

And working with kids, even teens- most days- does bring them joy.

Travels this year included Seattle, San Diego, Israel;

Dances were choreographed and performed to Yelle;

Friends moved and moved back, fought fires, told stories,

Designed, skied, and had babies, and were never an ounce boring.

We are so grateful to have all that we do,

Not least of all, the honor of knowing YOU!

We hope you can come visit us in our new home.

(And thank you for reading this very-long poem).