By Jan Nieman
‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
We went off to church and left both pets in charge
And upon our return, was a mess very large.
Kris burst into tears and cried, “Where could they be?”
“The chocolates I bought aren’t under the tree.”
The four Hershey bars for her brothers were gone,
And Gypsy and Chessie knew they did wrong.
The wrappers were scattered throughout the room
And the dog and the cat decided to zoom.
They knew they were guilt about their spree,
And upchucked the chocolates behind the tree.
Dad drove to a drug-store with daughter in tow,
To purchase more candy and soften the blow.
I raced the pets to the vet to see what was wrong,
For pets eating chocolate wouldn’t live very long.
They were OK, and the following year
Dad said, “No food gifts left out in the clear.”
But Grandma forgot and hid all of her candy
Under her bed, which the pets thought quite handy.
She left her door open while we went to church
And Gypsy and Chessie started their search.
Two little rascals found the box in a minute
And again spoiled a Christmas with chocolate in it.
The next year we knew to follow Dad’s rule,
But one of his students in Church Sunday School
The week before Christmas gave him a box.
It went under the tree. He thought it was socks.
But Gypsy and Chessie knew better than he.
And again sniffed out chocolates under the tree.
Thoroughly disgusted, we didn’t fly to the vet’s,
We were mad as could be with both of the pets.
A new law was spoken that very same day
Gifts under the tree would exist in no way,
Until Christmas morning and right after breakfast.
And never again did the pets spoil a Christmas!
Merry Christmas to all my readers (and eat chocolate!)