It Says Here

YOU know that house where, the night before Christmas, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse? Well, that wasn’t our house. That was a house where mamma in her kerchief and papa in his cap could settle their brains for a long winter’s nap because they knew good and well that St. Nicholas was about to come down the chimney with a bound and do absolutely everything.

It may come as a surprise to many people, but the fact is, St. Nicholas doesn’t do one blessed thing for the Heath family. At our house—and I wouldn’t want this mentioned in front of just anybody—Santa Claus is really Ben and me; and the period during which not a creature is stirring, not even a mouse, lasts roughly from 4:10 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. By six o’clock, actually, you couldn’t call what goes on in our house “stirring.”

About the Author

Aloïse Buckley Heath

Aloïse Buckley Heath (1918–1967) was the sister of National Review’s founder, William F. Buckley Jr.

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YOU know that house where, the night before Christmas, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse? Well, that wasn’t our house. That was a house where mamma in her kerchief and papa in his cap could settle their brains for a long winter’s nap because they knew good and well that St. Nicholas was about to come down the chimney with a bound and do absolutely everything.

It may come as a surprise to many people, but the fact is, St. Nicholas doesn’t do one blessed thing for the Heath family. At our house—and I wouldn’t want this mentioned in front of just anybody—Santa Claus is really Ben and me; and the period during which not a creature is stirring, not even a mouse, lasts roughly from 4:10 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. By six o’clock, actually, you couldn’t call what goes on in our house “stirring.”