Twas the night before Christmas as we sat down to eat,
Getting everyone home had been a herculean feat;
My youngest had been at his soccer club game,
My daughter was out with the boy with no name,
My first born had tried to hang back at his dorm,
My wife went to brave the last-minute shopping swarm.
But now they were here at the dining room table,
I couldn’t have been happier even if I were able,
The feast had been readied, the table well set,
The traditions I cherished just might win out yet.
So I looked ’round the table prepared to say grace,
All the heads were now bowed, I saw nary a face;
I smiled at the sight of my family together
When a sudden small noise came out from the nether.
Twas the tiniest beep, just the hint of a sound
But the meaning it carried was more than profound,
For it wasn’t to pray that their heads were all bent;
The beep was a text that someone had sent.
One by one guilty faces raised up from their lap
As their fingers so nimbly turned off every app.
One by one I went ’round and collected all phones
And declared this a Christmas electronic-free zone.
And thus, in our house, a tradition was born,
One simple rule to which family was sworn:
No devices would run in the holiday season,
No machines that would give us our rhyme or our reason.
Now we talk to each other alive, face to face,
And our laughter and love fill up the whole place;
But you’re welcome to join us, there’s room for more,
Just remember to leave your device at the door.
Copyright 2014 Jack Thompson