A (Very Interesting) Visit From Saint Nicholas

'Twas the night before Christmas
We came home, and I straightened our wreath
Then sent my little darlings
Upstairs to brush their teeth.

My dh was a bit
On the happy-happy side
He'd had some beers at his sister's house
So to get us home, I drove for that ride.

I sat down to check email
The kids were upstairs brushing
With Santa coming they knew
That off to bed they'd soon be rushing

R finished his teeth
And went into his room
K was brushing hers
And so would be joining him soon.

When suddenly, with a pop
which startled us all
The computer blipped off
and the light in the hall

In fact every thing was off
For this Christmas Eve treat
We looked out the window
and saw darkness all the way down the street.

The street lights were off
Not a Christmas light shone
At that point my dh let out a groan

"Power Outage!" he exclaimed
"It's not only us"
And at that point my little one started to fuss

She was in the bathroom, alone
As you may recall
But now, in the darkness...
"R! Don't let her fall!"

So her big brother rescued her
Then found the flashlight
G had gone down the basement to find it
Buzzed and now without sight

But I'd gotten some candles
from my dear sil
What a lucky gift that was
Words cannot tell

So we snuggled up on the couch
All four of us, with candles lit
K was still a bit freaked out
So for a while I let them sit.

Then R remembered that
His dragons he could light
Their battery powered, fiber-optics
Might chase away K's fright

So G lit them up to R's room
And tucked them into bed
Soon with dragons on the job
Sugarplum visions filled their heads.

But of course we had to wait now
To be sure they were asleep
Before we could do the "Santa" thing
So in a little while, upstairs I'd creep

It might have been a lovely time
With G and candles glowing
But as we snuggled on the couch
I felt his breathing slowing

I can't blame him, I must admit
Because soon I dozed off too
An hour later I snapped awake
Still in the dark and we still
Had oh-so-much to do!!!!

I tried to let him rest there
I went down to get their stuff
I overloaded my arms and lugged it
Up the stairs with a huff and a puff

I dropped it when I reached the tree
(Thank Heaven nothing broke)
Then looking at my flashlight
I saw a site that made me choke

The flashlight would soon be going out
It definitely was dimmer
How would I make all those trips
up and downstairs without it's glimmer?

So I woke up G; I needed his help
There was no other way
He lugged the gifts while I arranged them
Which really saved the day

I think he made the last two trips
without benefit of light
I arranged them all by candlelight
I was sure they'd be quite a sight

And as he set the last load down
Beside me by the tree
Suddenly the room burst into light
The power was back! Whoopee!

But then in a flash I realized
That when the lights had blipped back on
R's room, the hall and bathroom lights
were now blazing clear and strong

So, another stressfull moment
While G crept up to their room
He turned off the lights
And left the kids in sleep-conducive gloom

I had light to fill their stockings
and then I crept to bed
At 6:45 I heard their voices
Seeping into my head

"Santa came Mom & Daddy!
Let's get up!" they said
But G and I just couldn't
clear the cobwebs from our heads

"Come here, K..." he grunted
"R go back to bed,"
"We need a little longer
to rest our sleepy heads"

So K climbed into bed with us
and soon was sweetly sleeping
R went in and checked out all
the stocking stuffers he'd be keeping

At 8:15, he came back
This time I said "Okay."
"G, wake up, he can't wait anymore.
Let's start this holiday!"

So we went downstairs
And watched our darlings open all their stuff
It was a crazy night but somehow we still
pulled off the "Santa" bluff

We've had alot of memorable
Christmas Eves so far
Ear infections, no wrapping paper,
caused late-nite trips to the store in the car

But I think this one will have to be
Among the most memorable yet
Playing Santa in the pitch darkness
Is something I'll never forget