How the Grandpa Grinched Christmas
a poem about my grinchy husband, Suess style
Merry Christmas! I had planned to share something from my blog archives because I hadn’t had time to write something new this week with all the holiday preparations and cramming to finish my grandkids homemade gifts. But then I was sitting in a quiet living room after spending half the day with family, reflecting on how “grinchy” my husband tends to get whenever we have a big family gathering (Christmas or not). And so, I wrote this poem in his honor. I even read it aloud to him, and we both got a laugh out of it. I hope you do too.
How the Grandpa Grinched Christmas
Everyone in the house enjoyed Christmas a lot
except for the grandpa, who tried, but could not.
As the kids ran around wanting snacks, drinks, or toys,
the grandpa just cringed at the Christmassy noise.
“Why, three years in a row I’ve put up with it now,
but more and more grandkids keep coming somehow!”
So the grinch…I mean grandpa…stood back with a sigh
as the grandkid-o-meter grew frightfully high.
They whined for some cookies. They sniffled like sickies.
They touched things with fingers all coated with stickies.
They climbed up and down on the couch and the chairs
and begged to go play in the playroom downstairs.
And then when the time came to have a small treat
the littles refused to just sit there and eat.
They called the food yucky. They turned up their noses
and stood on their chairs on their tippity toeses.
And Gramps, with his grinch face all creased with a frown,
said, “Watch it! That toddler is gonna fall down!
You’ve got to be careful. You’ve got to watch out.
You can’t just let babies go running about.”
He breathed, but no calm even hinted at showing
(and the hairs he had left on his head risked not growing).
He stood there on Christmas Eve feeling quite miffed
until something happened to cause a small shift.
It could be the way the kids played with delight
or the little girl’s laugh, so clear and so bright.
Or maybe it was how the youngest of all
was eager to grin at the thrill of it all.
But whatever the reason, the laughs or the play,
the grandpa’s big heart couldn’t help it that day.
He sat in the room full of loud girls and boys
and he himself, Grandpa, joined in with the noise.
Delightful
Love this-- Merry Christmas!!