A take on the classic song, but centering a multiracial family with two dads.
The five mischievous children in this rendition of “The 12 Days of Christmas” sometimes bring their daddy homemade cookies, but sometimes broken baubles on the Christmas tree, as we see the ups and downs (and constant love) of family life. There are four snuggly hugs, three headaches, two throbbing arms, and ultimately “a gift waiting under the tree.”
It’s a lot of fun. Readers should note, though, that in keeping with the first-person perspective of the original, the poem seems to be narrated by only one dad. The only Christmas card seen in the story is addressed to “Daddy” and has a drawing of him by one of the children—it’s clearly intended for him alone. Given that nongenetic parents in same-sex couples often have to deal with the (offensive) idea that they are not a “real” parent, I would have loved to have seen another card in one of the images, addressed to “Papa” (or whatever the other dad calls himself), just to stress that they are both equally dads. Nevertheless, the images—especially one of the two dads and five kids snuggled in bed together—make it clear they are a family.
The narrator dad has light tan skin, a tuft of pink hair, and a brown beard; the other dad is Black. One child is Black, two are White, and two are Asian.
