A holiday poem -by me.

Twas the night before Christmas and all through base housing,
Mommy could not sleep, on the web she was browsing.

The suitcases lay open upon the floor,
Waiting to be packed and then chucked out the door.

The children were wired and refused to go to bed,
While visions of MORE CANDY danced in their heads.

Mommy in her jeans and a shirt belonging to dad,
Settled into her computer chair which wasn't too bad.

When from the stairs she heard a big noise,
falling down the stairs, several children's toys.

She sighed to herself and wondered when it would end,
Rose from her chair and the children back to bed she did send.

When what to her wondering eyes did appear,
But children who obeyed, she had nothing to fear.

She sat herself back down, and poured herself a drink,
When from the baby she smelled a great stink.

Sighing to herself once again she rose,
And changed the little ones diaper, trying to ignore her nose.

The baby looked up at her and gave a big smile,
So the mom sat with her and played for a while.

She sat down once again to check her email,
When the laundry caught her eye, and she tried to ignore it to no avail.

So she slowly got up and got a load going,
And wondered to herself if on their trip it would be snowing.

On her way back to her desk, she spied the sink,
And went to wash the dishes, totally forgetting her drink.

She scrubbed away cheerios and had lots of thoughts,
Mainly about her deployed husband, who she sure missed lots.

The baby's first Christmas he was going to miss,
On New Year's at midnight he would not be here to kiss.

She dried off her hands and went back to her chair,
And picked up her drink that she noticed was there.

The ice had all melted, the fizz was all gone,
But she drank it anyways, and then stifled a yawn.

She looked at her screen and then set down her drink,
Opened her bookmarks and looked for her email link.

She tried to not get her hopes up as the page loaded,
This is a busy time of year for him, to herself she noted.

Alas there was not a new message today,
So she shut down her computer and to her bed went to lay.

"Maybe tomorrow" She said to herself,
and looked at his picture sitting on a shelf.

She thought of all of her tasks left to do,
Wrap all the presents, and pack up her crew.

This was the hardest part, the nights that were so long,
But she knew for her kids, she had to be strong.

She checked on the kids, finally asleep in their beds,
quietly tiptoed in and kissed them on their heads.

"Goodnight my children, your daddy loves you."
She whispered to them, knowing it was true.

They missed daddy too, but Christmas was here!
So she pulled herself together and wiped away a tear.

Back down the hallway to her room she went,
And laid down in bed, her energy spent.

She had thoughts of him as she began to fall asleep,
Her heart heavy and her weariness deep.

"Merry Christmas my love" she said to the night,
"Merry Christmas to you, and I hope you're all right".