perhaps her heart was two sizes too small

Every one, it's assumed, likes Christmas a lot
But Steph, who felt scroogey, most certainly did not.
Oh, she loved all the sharing and wee balls of rum
And songs about drummers who rum-pa-pum-pum,

But she hated the shopping and wrapping and glitter
And taking the tree down alone made her bitter

It could be perhaps that her socks were too pinchy
Or the stuff in the utility room made her grinchy.
But whatever the reason, the socks or the junk,
She stood here in January, feeling the funk.
She snarled with a sneer, "I can take it no more -
This house is too full, the stuff has to go!"

Then she got an idea! An awful idea!

Why, Steph got a wonderful, awful idea!
She gathered some empty containers and sacks
And took down the lights and the ornament of Max.
She packed up the wrapping and shiny red balls
And rolled up the garland that decked out the halls.

"Now all I need are some boxes to fill.
I'll pack up my stuff, and I'll go to Goodwill"
She cleaned out the closets and shelves of the clutter
And emptied the fridge of the last Nutter Butter.
She boxed up a vase of coffee beans and a candle
And even got rid of the "R" on the mantle.

She slithered and slunk with a smile almost gruff
And cleared out the house of all excess stuff.
She got tired more than once, and thought she was through,
But she mustered the strength of ten women, plus two.
She kept working all day and into the night
When she heard a deep voice that gave her a fright.

She turned around fast and saw You-Know-Who
The little boy Kevin, who was no longer two.
He looked at his mom with gleaming blue eyes
And said, "Why are you cleaning and boxing up, WHY?"
And you know, that ol' Mom, was so tired and so sick,
Of working alone, that she schemed really quick.

"Get out the stepstool and climb really high,
Take down the tree topper, then be a good guy
And haul these to the dump and then when you can
Load the rest that's for charity, into the van."
Her jobs hushed the boy, then she patted his head

And said, "Thanks for helping!" and sent him to bed.

Now the chaos was vanishing from under her roof,
The odds and the ends were all going "POOF!"
She'd bah-humbugged throughout the whole holiday season
But please don't ask why, no one quite knows the reason.
It just could have been that her socks were too pinchy.
Or maybe her heart had become mean and grinchy.
But the most likely reason for holiday gloom
Was all of the stuff in the utility room.