The journey between here and there

Every year our family picks 2 other families and we do the 12 days of Christmas on them. It is like a ding dong ditch. We leave a little poem and a treat on their doorstep when it’s dark (around 5pm or later). Ring the door bell and RUN! Hop in the van and drive off before they open the door. The kids love it and it’s a blast….ok… and I think it’s a hoot as well! Here are the poems/treats that we give starting on December 13th and it ends on December 24. I usually have secret-agent-like quizzed them to make sure the families will be around during the 12 days.

1st DAY
(can of pears)

On the first day of Christmas,
My true love sent to me,
A partridge in a pear tree….

A long time ago the story was told
Of 12 days of giving as Christmas unfolds.

We have not a Partridge, for it flew away.
We have not a tree,
cuz they only grow in May.

We have only the pears,
but the givings the key
to show that we cares.

2nd DAY
(box of turtles, bar of Dove soap)

On the second day of Christmas
My true love sent to me,
Two turtle doves…

It is not a pair of Turtle doves
We are giving you today.
We thought they are too messy to love
And they constantly coo all day.

Instead we have a box of turtles
For a sweet treat to eat
And some Dove soap that will leave you smelln’ like my Aunt Myrtle.

3rd DAY
( can of chicken noodle soup)

On the third day of Christmas,
My true love sent to me,
Three French hens….
Well, we had 3 hens
We thought they were rather neat.
Until they jumped up and ran out of their pen.
We chased them down the street
Yelling over and over again,
“Come back here or you hens are dead meat!”

They did not heed our warning
So early the next morning
As they were sleeping on a bicycle seat
We caught them and made something tasty to eat.

4th DAY
(jar of jam)

On the fourth day of Christmas,
My true love sent to me,
Four calling birds….

If we were giving like the song
We would give you four birds
But they would poop, squawk and fly around
Now isn’t that absurd!
Instead we thought we’d give you a treat
A jar of jam for toast that is sweet.

5th DAY
(honey glazed donut rings)

On the fifth day of Christmas,
My true love sent to me,
Five golden rings….

These rings too are golden
They’re yummy through and through
Small nuggets of “friendships”
For good friends like You!

6th DAY
( ½ dozen eggs)

On the sixth day of Christmas,
My true love sent to me,
Six geese-a-laying….

We’re sure you don’t want messy geese all over the house,
‘cuz they can get quite gassy
like Mickey Mouse.

Poinsettias are red
Christmas lights are blue
Here are some eggs for you.

OR sometimes I can’t find 1/2 dozen eggs so I give eggnog instead.
(eggnog)

On the sixth day of Christmas,
My true love sent to me,
Six geese-a-laying….

“Eggs make good eggnog”
A famous old saying
But we used chicken eggs
Since these geese just weren’t laying.

7th DAY
(bubble bath)

On the seventh day of Christmas,
My true love sent to me,
Seven swans a-swimming….

We looked and looked
By the babbling brook
But we could not find any swans,
They left in a hurry to Taiwan.
Here is some bubble bath
Left in the aftermath.

8th DAY
(chocolate milk)

On the eight day of Christmas,
My true love sent to me,
Eight maids a- milking….

The maids have been milking
They shared with the store
So we mixed some and fixed some
For you to explore.

9th DAY
(bake cookies)

On the ninth day of Christmas,
My true love sent to me,
Nine ladies dancing….

A dance we can’t bring
At that we’re just rookies,
We’re more practiced at baking
A nice batch of cookies

10th DAY
(candy canes)

On the tenth day of Christmas,
My true love sent to me,
Ten lords a-leaping….

Those crazy ten lords kept leaping around
All over the town
Like a bunch of silly clowns
“This needs to stop,” I said with a frown.

They were causing quite a stir
So I picked up a cane and chased them away
But just before they disappeared in a blur
They said they would go to your house later today.

So here are some canes
You can use to give chase
To shoo them from your living space.

11th DAY
(pic of baby Jesus)

On the eleventh day of Christmas,
My true love sent to me,
Eleven pipers piping….

The piping pipers piped up and said
We wrote a little poem
This eleventh day for you.
To tell you of the Christmas joys
And of a friendship true.

POEM—
Christmas is joy in our Savior’s birth,
Christmas is thanks for our bounteous earth,
Christmas is song sung by angels on high,
Christmas is a new star high up in the sky.
Christmas is loving and caring that’s true
Christmas is having good friends like you.

12th DAY
(box of chocolates, calendar or some other Christmas gift)

On the twelfth day of Christmas,
My true love sent to me,
Twelve drummers drumming….

The drummers were drumming
They made such a din
Our heads were pounding ––
We wondered how to begin
To say thank-you to you
For the friendship you share
For the things that you do
That show that you care…

These small gifts aren’t much
But we hope that they show
We value your friendship
And hope it will grow!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!