Every Bean down in Beanville liked Christmas a lot
Especially their Dad, for a Grinch, he was not!

Their Dad adored Christmas! The whole Christmas season!
Why, you might ask? Well, for plenty-good reason.
It could be, perhaps, how the lights looked at night.
It could be he loved how the snow glistened bright.

But I think that the most likely reason you’d find
May come from his genes, which are loving and kind.
But, whatever the reason, the snow or his genes,
He stood there on Christmas Eve loving The Beans,

Thinking back on the year, like a proud, Daddy would,
All the things that happened, which were gooder than good.
For he knew every Bean on the Bean family team,
Could make real, those things, that once were a dream.

“Now let’s hang up our stockings,” he declared with such cheer.
“For tomorrow is Christmas! It’s practically here!”
Then he giddily smirked, as he tended to do,
“Yes Christmas is coming, not a minute too soon!”

See, tomorrow, the Bean girls, all full of their joys,
Will wake bright and early, and scoop up their toys!
And then! Oh, the laughs! Oh, the Laughs! Laughs! Laughs! Laughs!
There’s one thing I love! All the LAUGHS!  LAUGHS!  LAUGHS!  LAUGHS!

And they’ll shriek squeaks and squeals, playing house with their dolls.
They’ll sing ’til their voices bounce off of the walls.
They’ll toot their tootpoofers. They’ll clang their tik-tockers.
They’ll bang their bang-bangers. They’ll ring their bling-rockers.
They’ll twist their blitzbloggers. They’ll stream their think lockers.
They’ll bounce there slime blobbers. They’ll build their brick blockers.

And they’ll play funny games, like five-cardy charade,
A make-believe mix of go-fish and ballet!
They’ll continue to cheer, their laughs all-amuck,
On their five-decker, super-charged, pink-Barbie-truck!

Then the Beans, young and old, will sit down to eat cheese.
They’ll eat cheese! Upon cheese! Upon CHEESE!  CHEESE!  CHEESE! CHEESE!
They’ll feast on the finest of charcuterie,
Yes, cheeses and meats is a feast for a Bean!

And then they’ll do something I find the most fun!
Every Bean down in Beanville, the old and the young,
Will get all bundled up, without further delaying.
Then they’ll all go outside, where those Beans will start playing!

“And they’ll play! And they’ll play! And they’ll PLAY!  PLAY!  PLAY!  PLAY!”
And the more the Dad thought of this Bean Christmas play,
The more the Dad thought, “I just cherish this day!

Why for forty-two years I have savoured it now!
I must make Christmas bigger and better, but how?”

Then he got an idea! An awesome idea!
The Dad got a wonderful, awesome idea!
“I know just what to do!” The Dad sang with a song.
“I’ll hang more decorations, the entire year long!”

And he chuckled, and clucked, at his genius conceit,
“We’ll build up the finest display on the street!
All I need is some helpers.” The Dad paused in deep thought.
Then he called his two children, who loved helping a lot.

He explained his grand plan, the Dad smiled and he shared:
“Let’s dress this whole house, and let no inch go bare.
We will hang more decor than has ever been hung,
We will string up more lights than has ever been strung!”

As that Dad, all aglow, really thought himself clever.
“This Christmas, no doubt, will be the GRANDEST one ever!”

So they all got to working, hanging ornaments and bows.
They strung up the holly.  They hung mistletoe.
Then he grabbed some more boxes, full of bright Christmas lights,
And they ventured outdoors, to create more delights.

But the kids had grown bored, as the fifth hour passed,
So they let their old Dad carry on with the task.
And the Dad sputtered “Phooey!” at the tangled old mess,
But he wouldn’t give up, and he wouldn’t digress.

Though the task set before him, was less funner than fun,
He still grabbed the next string once the last one was done,
And he strung up those lights, every single last one.

“We will light up the sky,” Dad said with a cheer,
So that Santa can see us, all twelve months a year!

Then he tested each bulb, a rather dull chore.
But a light that won’t light isn’t one to ignore.

When he finished he felt the cold deep in his core.
So he hurried inside by the fire to get warm,
Where Bean family stockings hung all side-by-side.
“These stockings,” he thought, “they just fill me with pride!”

Then his thinker kept thinking, with a smile most pleasant,
And he dashed out of sight to wrap up some presents.
Outfits, and puzzles, and so many books!
Boardgames, and Legos, and Rainbow Loom hooks!

And he wrapped them in boxes. Then the Dad, full of glee,
Set all of the boxes, one by one, by the tree.

Then he gasped a great gasp, there was something he missed.
One thing he’d forgotten on his holiday list!

He dashed to the office, for paper and pen,
He pulled up a chair, sat down quickly, and then
He wrote out a letter to Santa with glee.
“And now,” grinned the Dad, “I’ll make a wish just for me!”

But as the Dad penned his note, as he started to write,
He heard a small sound that was full of delight.
He turned around fast, and he saw a small Bean!
Audrey-Louise Bean, who was half of fourteen.

She stared at her Dad and she said, “Daddy, why,
Why are you writing to Santa Claus? Why?”
And, you know, her great Dad, who did not want to lie,
Simply told her the truth, as he gave his reply:

“Why, my sweet little lady,” he began to decree,
“Santa’s for everyone, even big kids like me.
I’ve been writing him letters since the day I turned five,
These letters, in part, keep his magic alive!”

And his words soothed his child. Then he patted her head,
And he got her a drink, and he sent her to bed.
And when Audrey-Louise was in bed with her cup,
He finished his letter, then he sealed it up.

Now exhausted from a day of making things perfect,
“I am tired”, he thought, “but, oh, it was worth it.”

Then he crashed on the couch, at his home he admired;
All lights and the sights as he lay by the fire.
Until his eyes got too heavy and declared themselves tired.

Dosing off in the warm, loving feel of the house
Which he was grateful to share with his kids and his spouse.
He thought in that moment of all his friends’ houses,
Wishing all the same feels for all his friends’ spouses!

There he slept through the night, while the clock kept tick-tocking,
And he woke up to see there were gifts in his stocking!
He just couldn’t wait to share the news with the others,
Who were all still a-snooze and tucked under their covers.

His heart started racing, he was just so excited,
“Morning is here!” he was more than delighted!
“All the Beans will wake soon!” as their alarms give their warning.
“And they’ll leap from their beds, for it’s now Christmas morning!

And as they wake-up, I know just what they’ll do,
Their mouths will hang open a minute or two,
Then the Beans down in Beanville will all cheer WOO-HOO!”

“That’s a noise,” grinned the Dad, “that I simply adore!”
There was nothing at all that he could want more.

Then he heard a faint sound from upon the next floor,
The pitter-patter of feet, then the creak of a door.

His dear Nora Bean, was the first one to rise,
He just couldn’t wait for look in her eyes.
And then came whispers, which soon grew to loud cheer:
“It’s morning! it’s Christmas!  It’s finally here!”

Every Bean there in Beanville, the tall and the small,
Came bounding with joy down the stairs through the hall.
But it wasn’t the gifts they were rushing to find,
No, the first thing they did was more selfless and kind.

They first ran to their Dad, and they granted his wish,
As they jumped in his arms and gave each cheek a kiss.
“Merry Christmas!” they cheered, as they held him so tight
And in that very moment, so much came to light

They cared not for ribbons! They cared not for tags!
They cared not for packages, boxes, or bags!”

As he hugged them, he thought what he hadn’t before
The Dad thought of something he couldn’t ignore.
“Maybe Christmas doesn’t need all this fancy décor.”
“Maybe Christmas”, he thought, “means a little bit more.”

And what happened then? Well, in Beanville they say,
Dad’s Christmas budget shrunk three-sizes that day!

And then the true meaning of Christmas came through,
And the Dad felt the love of the whole Beandricks’ crew!
It has always been present, each day and each night,
This feeling of trust, and of love and delight.

With a smile to his soul, he profoundly did say:
“Joy doesn’t need a big fancy display.
Why in Beanville, we carry it all through the year.
It’s in all of us, always, and we keep it right here.”

And for one moment more he held on to them tight,
Then sat down on the couch, with his beautiful wife
And they took in the greatest of sights that had mattered:
The scene of their wonderful family-gathered.

And they enjoyed the whole day, and for just the right reason,
For there’s love in their home, no matter the season.