A Parent's Night Before Christmas

NaeNae55

A parent's night before Christmas
'Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house
I searched for the tools to hand to my spouse.
Instructions were studied and we were inspired,
In hopes we could manage "Some Assembly Required."
The children were quiet (not asleep) in their beds,
While Dad and I faced the evening with dread:
A kitchen, two bikes, Barbie's town house to boot!
And, thanks to Grandpa, a train with a toot!


We opened the boxes, my heart skipped a beat....
Let no parts be missing or parts incomplete!
Too late for last-minute returns or replacement;
If we can't get it right, it goes in the basement!

When what to my worrying eyes should appear,
But 50 sheets of directions, concise, but not clear,
With each part numbered and every slot named,
So if we failed, only we could be blamed.

More rapid than eagles the parts then fell out,
All over the carpet they were scattered about.
"Now bolt it! Now twist it! Attach it right there!
Slide on the seats, and staple the stair!
Hammer the shelves, and nail to the stand."
"Honey," said hubby, "you just glued my hand."

And then in a twinkling, I knew for a fact
That all the toy dealers had indeed made a pact
To keep parents busy all Christmas Eve night
With "assembly required" till morning's first light.

We spoke not a word, but kept bent at our work,
Till our eyes, they went bleary; our fingers all hurt.
The coffee went cold and the night, it wore thin
Before we attached the last rod and last pin.

Then laying the tools away in the chest,
We fell into bed for a well-deserved rest.
But I said to my husband just before I passed out,
"This will be the best Christmas, without any doubt.

Tomorrow we'll cheer, let the holiday ring,
And not have to run to the store for a thing!
We did it! We did it! The toys are all set
For the perfect, most perfect, Christmas, I bet!"

Then off to dreamland and sweet repose I gratefully went,
Though I suppose there's something to say for those self-deluded...
I'd forgotten that batteries are never included!

cnghr

I love it. Reminds me of when my kids were growing up, only I was a single parent so I was the one doing all the assembling. I remember putting together trains, Matchbox car garages, toy boxes, myriad little GI Joe vehicles, tricycles, and much more, and I'm sure that more than once I had to call my dad and ask him if he could bring over some batteries because I'd forgotten to pick them up. It was always worth it, though.

Speaking of toys, has anyone ever noticed that the difficult thing about toys now is not necessarily the assembling but the way the fasten them into the packaging? I swear, last Christmas my four grandkids each had one adult just to help untwist twist-ties, cut plastic fasteners, and disentangle doll hair from the plastic that they sew into it, in order to get the stuff out of the boxes!

plynnl

I was also a single mom putting together all the toys and the worst was all the decals that went on the Hot Wheel garages.

ACU Frank

You two must have been bad. Santa took care of all that for my mom.

cnghr

[quote=plynnl;718501]I was also a single mom putting together all the toys and the worst was all the decals that went on the Hot Wheel garages.[/quote]

Ugh, yes, decals that went on any toy vehicles or their accessories were the worst. And if you didn't have them on there exactly right, you found out just how observant a 4-year-old boy could be about things like that!

Sharon McKnight SPHR

For a long time I struggled with trying to wrap objects that wouldn't fit into a box (at least not any box that I had) like a basketball. A few years ago, I discovered that some specialty stores sell Easter basket sleeves all year long and now, unless the object is really, really big, that difficult wrap is no longer much of a problem. Makes a pretty package too.

Just a helpful hint in case anyone is trying to wrap a basketball this year.

Sharon