Books for kids, teens, & those who are young at heart

Category: Holidays (Page 4 of 13)

Mommy’s Night Before Christmas by Katie L. Carroll

October 2022 Update: If you love this poem, check out the newly revised and illustrated picture book MOMMY’S NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS by Katie L. Carroll and illustrated by Phoebe Cho.

Available now from BookshopAmazonBarnes & NobleIndieBoundKobo, and more! Find signed copies on the Purchase Books page.

It’s been a few years since I last posted this play on “A Visit from St. Nicholas” by Clement C, Moore, but I thought it’d be fun to share it again for all those parents preparing for Christmas. Happy Christmas to all who celebrate! See you all next year!

Mommy’s Night Before Christmas

by Katie L. Carroll

‘Twas the night before Christmas, the kids were in bed
Anxiously awaiting the Big Man in Red;
The stockings weren’t hung (we don’t have a chimney),
We just set them down in front of the TV.

Who am I kidding? The kids weren’t sleeping,
The baby was teething, drooling, and weeping;
The preschooler was playing with a million toys,
Driving his cars and making lots of noise.

Half an hour later, the baby passed out,
His brother went to bed (not without a good pout);
I let out a great big sigh of relief,
Then I looked around and thought, “Oh, good grief!”

The house was a mess, the laundry never-ending,
And there was still that ornament that needed mending.
At least we were done hiding that stupid elf,
Went back where he came from, him and his shelf;

Hours passed, we thought we were finally done;
We found more gifts, the fun had just begun;
We were out of wrapping paper and tape,
Reused gift bags put us back in good shape;

I sat down to relax, put my feet up,
Snuggled into a blanket with my tea cup;
A bang outside roused me to my feet,
I peeked out the curtains, looked down the street.

“I don’t think it’s the neighbors,” Daddy said;
“What? You think it’s Santa in his big sled?”
He went to check it out, shot me a look,
And told me to go back to reading my book;

A minute later, I heard a great yell,
And said under my breath, “What the hell?”
I put on my shoes, grabbed the monitor,
Slipped into a coat, and stomped out the door;

The clear winter night brought no Christmas snow,
Instead moonlight washed the yard in a soft glow;
Daddy stood there staring up at the roof;
I hissed, “What are you doing, you big doof?”

He merely pointed, his face full of fear,
And gave a soft whisper, “It’s a reindeer.”
Now, I haven’t believed since I was six,
Thought surely his eyes must be playing tricks;

Then I heard a stomping and a nicker
That made my heart beat a little quicker;
Looking up, I saw the brown muzzle, red nose,
The Fat Man himself, and I simply froze.

Daddy and I exchanged a look of wonder,
The shock could’ve put us six feet under;
I shook my head and came to my senses,
Glared at Santa, went on the offensive;

“Get off my roof, your reindeer too,” I hissed;
I glared at Santa, feeling really pissed;
He laughed, “Don’t end up on my naughty list.”
Clearly this guy wasn’t getting my gist.

“With all due respect, get the hell out of here;
If you wake my kids, you won’t see next year.”
Quiet as a shadow those reindeer took flight,
Santa whispered, “Merry Christmas and good night.”

A Fall of Events and Writing in Pictures

Okay, so it’s been a crazy busy fall here. Bookish events abounded; I added over 10,000 words to ELIXIR SAVED in November (so close to finishing this draft finally and really pushing to make my end of year deadline on it); and lots of soccer, school things, and fun stuff with the boys. Now that December is here, the craziness of the holiday season had already started.

So it’s a picture post! (From top to bottom: A book signing event at Barnes & Noble, the boys playing in the driveway, Halloween cookies, Halloween night, writing workshop for kids at the Norwalk Public Library, voting on Election Day, One City One Story event at the Milford Public Library, the two older boys reading PIRATE ISLAND in the green screen pirate ship at the One City One Story event, and a snowy Mark Twain House for the New England SCBWI Day of Craft.) Pop down to the comments and share what you all have been up to.

Fall 2017 in Pictures and Looking Toward 2018

The hustle and bustle of the season is in full swing here at chateau Carroll. The boys have been making out their Christmas lists for Santa, we’ve been baking, and I’ve been fitting in a few words here and there on Elixir Saved. So that means it’s time for a picture post!

But before we get to that, I’ve been thinking about what I’ll be blogging about next year. I’d like take some time to feature some books and authors I’ve been enjoying, but in a way I haven’t done before on the Observation Desk. I also haven’t officially introduced The Gentleman here on the blog, though he’s now 5 months old (sorry third kiddo!). So I might try and get a feature on his birth story up here, ya know, before his first birthday. 😉 I have some fun news in the works that I’ll be sharing soon. And I think I’d like to talk more about creativity in 2018, particularly as it fits into my life as a writer/mom.

And now to look back on fall:

Happy Turkey Day

The boys and I drove by a rafter of turkeys (yup, a group of turkeys is called a “rafter”…I looked it up and everything) the other day. We like to open the windows and gobble at them to see if they will gobble back (which they often do!). Since it was so close to Thanksgiving, we decided to yell at them to be careful cause we all know what happens to turkeys on Turkey Day! Happy Thanksgiving to all those who celebrate.

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