{"id":14885,"date":"2024-12-09T00:49:12","date_gmt":"2024-12-08T23:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=14885"},"modified":"2024-12-14T18:01:52","modified_gmt":"2024-12-14T17:01:52","slug":"a-parents-night-before-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=14885","title":{"rendered":"A Parent\u2019s Night Before Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"<hr noshade=\"noshade\" size=\"5\" \/>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em><span style=\"color: #008000;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\">A Parent\u2019s Night Before Christmas<br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<hr noshade=\"noshade\" size=\"5\" \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">&#8216;Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house.<br \/>\nI searched for the tools to hand to my spouse.<br \/>\nInstructions were studied and we were inspired,<br \/>\nIn hopes we could manage &#8220;Some Assembly Required\u201d.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">The children were quiet (not asleep) in their beds,<br \/>\nWhile Dad and I faced the evening with dread:<br \/>\nA kitchen, two bikes, Barbie&#8217;s town house to boot!<br \/>\nAnd, thanks to Grandpa, a train with a toot!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">We opened the boxes, my heart skipped a beat&#8230;.<br \/>\nLet no parts be missing or parts incomplete!<br \/>\nToo late for last-minute returns or replacement;<br \/>\nIf we can&#8217;t get it right, it goes in the basement!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">When what to my worrying eyes should appear,<br \/>\nBut 50 sheets of directions, concise, but not clear,<br \/>\nWith each part numbered and every slot named,<br \/>\nSo if we failed, only we could be blamed.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">More rapid than eagles the parts then fell out,<br \/>\nAll over the carpet they were scattered about.<br \/>\n&#8220;Now bolt it! Now twist it! Attach it right there!<br \/>\nSlide on the seats, and staple the stair!<br \/>\nHammer the shelves, and nail to the stand.&#8221;<br \/>\n&#8220;Honey,&#8221; said hubby, &#8220;you just glued my hand.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">And then in a twinkling, I knew for a fact<br \/>\nThat all the toy dealers had indeed made a pact<br \/>\nTo keep parents busy all Christmas Eve night<br \/>\nWith &#8220;assembly required&#8221; till morning&#8217;s first light.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">We spoke not a word, but kept bent at our work,<br \/>\nTill our eyes, they went bleary; our fingers all hurt.<br \/>\nThe coffee went cold and the night, it wore thin<br \/>\nBefore we attached the last rod and last pin.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Then laying the tools away in the chest,<br \/>\nWe fell into bed for a well-deserved rest.<br \/>\nBut I said to my husband just before I passed out,<br \/>\n&#8220;This will be the best Christmas, without any doubt.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Tomorrow we&#8217;ll cheer, let the holiday ring,<br \/>\nAnd not have to run to the store for a thing!<br \/>\nWe did it! We did it! The toys are all set<br \/>\nFor the perfect, most perfect, Christmas, I bet!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Then off to dreamland and sweet repose I gratefully<br \/>\nwent,<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Though I suppose there&#8217;s something to say for those<br \/>\nself-deluded&#8230;<br \/>\nI&#8217;d forgotten that BATTERIES are never included!<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<hr noshade=\"noshade\" size=\"5\" \/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Parent\u2019s Night Before Christmas &#8216;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 &#8220;Some Assembly Required\u201d. The children were quiet (not asleep) in their beds, While Dad and I faced the evening with dread: A kitchen, [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[334],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6cWjO-3S5","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15128,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=15128","url_meta":{"origin":14885,"position":0},"title":"Traditional \u2018Lucky Dip\u2019 At Christmas","author":"Alan Williams","date":"7th February 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"\u2018Lucky Dips\u2019 At Christmas It has become somewhat of a tradition for a \u2018lucky dip\u2019 at Christmas for the Page Turners group. Everybody wraps a book and it is pot luck what you pull out of the hat. At our January meeting, members share their surprise gift. This year was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Wenvoe Page Turners&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe Page Turners","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=41"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2158,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=2158","url_meta":{"origin":14885,"position":1},"title":"2016 Round Up","author":"Alan Williams","date":"3rd January 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 ST. MARY\u2019S PARISH CHURCH NEWS A Happy New Year to all our readers\u2026 a Blwythin Newedd Dda.. The season of Advent in the church has been marked with the traditional lighting of the Advent candles each Sunday. The first Sunday marked the Patriarchs thinking of Abraham the father of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;St Mary's Parish Church News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"St Mary's Parish Church News","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5161,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=5161","url_meta":{"origin":14885,"position":2},"title":"November tips from the RHS","author":"Alan Williams","date":"21st December 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"November tips from the RHS 1. Clear up fallen leaves, especially from the lawn and pond. 2. Raise containers off the floor to prevent water-logging. 3. Plant up Tulip bulbs for Spring displays. 4. Prune Roses to prevent wind rock. 5. Plant out Winter bedding. 6. Cover Brassicas with netting,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;The Village Gardener&quot;","block_context":{"text":"The Village Gardener","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=77"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5232,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=5232","url_meta":{"origin":14885,"position":3},"title":"Winter Preparations","author":"Alan Williams","date":"22nd December 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"RHS December tips 1. Check that your winter protection is still securely in place. 2. Make sure your greenhouse heaters are working properly. 3. Insulate outdoor taps and prevent ponds from freezing. 4. Prune open grown apple and pear trees, not those grown against a wall. 5. Still take hardwood\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;The Village Gardener&quot;","block_context":{"text":"The Village Gardener","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=77"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8399,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=8399","url_meta":{"origin":14885,"position":4},"title":"Wenvoe Advent Windows","author":"Alan Williams","date":"5th October 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Wenvoe Advent Windows To lighten Advent this year we are inviting you to take part in lighting up your windows. Whilst it is possible that our preparations for Advent and Christmas this year may require a little more thought and planning than normal, a small group of people are hoping\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Interest Articles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Interest Articles","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=334"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10257,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=10257","url_meta":{"origin":14885,"position":5},"title":"Tuckers Christmas Reindeer Sale","author":"Alan Williams","date":"17th September 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"TUCKERS CHRISTMAS REINDEER SALE This year\u2019s Tuckers Christmas Reindeer Sale will be taking place on Saturday 20th November from 10am - 5pm at our home (in the garden) 29 Vennwood Close. Mike\u2019s Christmas Garden Reindeers will be on sale along with some hand-crafted Christmas themed items from Wenvoe. \u00a0 \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Latest News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Latest News","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=70"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14885"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14885"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14885\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14974,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14885\/revisions\/14974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}