Wow. Thanks, dudes and dudesses. You rock. (And yes, I got "Gabriel's Message" from Jen's site. Thanks.)

I actually kinda like the "third king" verse in We Three Kings. It's just so terribly wrong, I kinda gotta love it. Such a cheery, Christmasy feel...

So as promised, here is The 12 Days Home for Christmas. The story: I've been hearing the "mother" version around the SF Bay Area for a couple/few years now, but nobody knew where it came from and nobody could remember it past the 7th day (the singer usually wimped out with some version of "On the eighth day, I couldn't stand it any more and I left"). So I went ahead and made up verses 8-12. If anybody knows (a) the original source so I can attribute it properly, and (b) the original verses 8-12, I'd be beholden.

The "father" version I made up myself. Enjoy.

The 12 Days Home for Christmas

On my (X) day home for Christmas, my mother said to me, (1) You have no nice clothes to wear. (2) You've put on some weight. (3) You should get a job. (4) Visit your Aunt Ruby. (5) Still no boyfrieeeeeend? (6) What's that in your suitcase? (7) Do you smoke marijuana? (8) Why don't you grow up? (9) What do you call that haircut? (10) How about some grandkids? (11) You're not getting younger. (12) Did I say something wrong?

On my (X) day home for Christmas, my father said to me, (1) Why don't we watch the game? (2) Don't the Bears look great? (3) How about them Bulls? (4) God, I hate the Yankees. (5) The Niners should have never traded Jooooooe! (6) Turf wrecks the game. (7) Golf really sucks. (8) Koufax was the best. (9) Tennis is for wimps. (10) Aren't the Blackhawks goats? (11) The Cubs'll do it this year. (12) Hand me the remote. (Team names may be changed to suit the appropriate father.)

-Greta