Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds, While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads. And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap, Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter. Away to the window I flew like a flash, Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below. When, what to my wondering eyes should appear, But a miniature sleigh, and eight tinny reindeer.

With a little old driver, so lively and quick, I knew in a moment it must be St Nick. More rapid than eagles his coursers they came, And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

“Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen! On, Comet! On, Cupid! on, on Donner and Blitzen! To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall! Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!”

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky. So up to the house-top the coursers they flew, With the sleigh full of Toys, and St Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof The prancing and pawing of each little hoof. As I drew in my head, and was turning around, Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot, And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot. A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back, And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack.

His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry! His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry! His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow, And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth, And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath. He had a broad face and a little round belly, That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf, And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself! A wink of his eye and a twist of his head, Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work, And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk. And laying his finger aside of his nose, And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, And away they all flew like the down of a thistle. But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight, “Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!”

Speaking of Young and the Restless, my best friend and I used to watch this soap opera in the summer. We would come home from the neighborhood pool and watch an episode while we ate toasted cheese sandwiches. (All while when our moms were at work.) I caught 15 minutes of it at the doctor’s office the other day and I can tell you, the story line has not changed much in 25 years.

Does this clip from Young and the Restless (1984) bring back any memories?

Check out this Huffington Post article on parents and sleep. 

OK, so I fell asleep at an embarrassingly early hour last night (while reading a bed time story to my daughter) and then got up in the middle of the night, causing me to have a terrible time falling back to sleep.  This mother is not done venting on this subject. The fact that my husband needs and often gets exactly eight hours of sleep a night blows my mind. If I could get that many hours of sleep a night, every night, I would honestly not know what to do with myself. I would probably start another consulting business or patent all the ideas that have come to me when I was up at night, trying relentlessly to get back to sleep. I recently was blessed with seven hours of straight sleep. The next morning, I went for a run, did laundry, made homemade pancakes for my kids, made their lunches, worked several billable hours (without checking Facebook once) and didn’t feel like dog poo all day. Uninterrupted sleep: what a concept.

This is an observation I made when my kids were toddlers: You call a friend to vent. It’s a miracle – you actually get her and not voicemail. Quality phone time with a friend is so precious and rare when your kids are little – it’s like ice cream without freezer burn. But something tells you you’re going to pay dearly. During those 10 minutes of blissful chatter, your toddler decides to have a tantrum, unravels all the tissue paper in the house, colors “pretty pictures” on the kitchen wall and disconnects the phone base that’s buried under the load of laundry you just folded. You tell her you’ll call her back. You leave two voicemails a week later and decide to catch up via e-mail and at the playground until your toddlers go to Kindergarten.

You give your kids non-organic snacks because they have umpteen after school activities that you need to drive them to and you don’t have time to go food shopping. The only things left in the cupboards are chemically filled snacks that you secretly eat anyway when no one is looking.

Respond and share if this applies to you!