Words and Music by Dennis Livingston

Fragile balls all wrapped in tinsel,
strings of tangled, colored lights.
Silver angels, rocking horses,
things I love to see.

Candy canes and one stray gnome,
brought out from their closet home.
Soon my kids will hang them on the tree.

I'm picking up my children at the airport tomorrow.
They visit me for two weeks at Christmas time each year.
I wish they didn't have to live so far away,
but then they do.

I wish I could be more than Father Christmas (alternate: Missus Santa)
for a week or two,
following the plan that mandates
how long they're allowed to leave their Mom (alternate: Dad) and travel here.

But that's what we worked out:
my ex-wife and her lawyer, (alternate: my former husband and his lawyer)
my lawyer and myself,
the judge, the mediator too,
with much advice from
friends and our relations,
the neighbors and our shrinks,
my tailor, even someone at the Bronx Zoo.
Everyone was patient and sincere.

I'M SEEING MY CHILDREN FOR CHRISTMAS

In a week on Christmas Eve,
I'll make a special dinner.
I hope I can remember not to burn the roast.
 
My mother will be coming,
with her second husband,
I think he'll want to bring his daughter from the coast.
 
Of course, my brother must be here,
with his charming boyfriend,
we'll talk about the B&B they opened in the South End.
 
When it's dark, we'll take a drive
just to look at houses,
hung with rows of blinking lights
and some boughs of mistletoe.
 
Back at home I'll get my kids
ready for their bedtime.
They like to hear me read an Oz book.
I hope we'll have more snow.

I'm picking up my children at the airport tomorrow.
They visit me for two weeks at Christmas time each year.

Although the world seems deranged
and my family has changed
in ways I scarcely dared to contemplate before,
my love for them will outlast
any problems from the past,
what matters most is that they're coming back once more.

I'M SEEING MY CHILDREN FOR CHRISTMAS

 

 

Note: The perspective in this version is that of the father. If sung by a woman, use the alternate lyrics for mom given in parentheses. In this case, an extra beat in the music in bar 24 (making this a 5/4 measure) will be needed at the end of the measure to accommodate the word "former" on G# and A. Bar 25 goes back to 4/4 just as is (with the words "husband and his lawyer").

 

 

© 1999 Hallmark Music Co.

 

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