But she could have.

She’s got two children — son Levi, who’s 13, and daughter Joanne, who’s 10 — and she’s been working with pre-schoolers for nine years now. For the past three, she’s been at Partners in Learning, where she teaches the 3-year-olds, and where my grandson, Abraham, spends his days.

And she’s leader of Girl Scout Troop No. 1597 at Milford Hills Methodist Church.

So Cindy knows what moms would ask Santa for if they had a chance and recognized truth when she heard Karen Smith read it at a district Girl Scout meeting. Karen, district manager for the Rowan County Girl Scouts, had found it on the Internet with no name attached, and she had to share it.

“I liked it so much,” Cindy says, “that I made copies and put one in all my 3-year-old’s cubbyholes.”

And Abraham brought it home.

So you might call it Cindy’s Christmas gift to Everymom.

Read. Enjoy. Laugh a little. Or a lot.

Dear Santa,

I’ve been a good mom all year.

I’ve fed, cleaned and cuddled my children on demand, visited the doctor’s office more than my doctor, sold 62 cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground and figured out how to attach nine patches onto my daughter’s Girl Scout sash with staples and a glue gun.

I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmases, since I had to write this letter with my son’s red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I’ll find any more free time in the next 18 years.

Here are my Christmas wishes:

I’d like a pair of legs that don’t ache after a day of chasing kids (in any color, except purple, which I already have) and arms that don’t flap in the breeze but are strong enough to carry a screaming toddler out of the candy aisle in the grocery store. I’d also like a waist since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month of my last pregnancy.

If you’re hauling big ticket items this year, I’d like a car with fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music, a television that doesn’t broadcast any programs containing talking animals and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.

On the practical side, I could use a talking daughter doll that says, “Yes, Mommy” to boost my parental confidence, along with one potty-trained toddler, two kids who don’t fight, and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of a power tool. I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting, “Don’t eat in the living room,” and, “Take your hands off your brother,” because my voice seems to be just out of my children’s hearing range and can only be heard by the dog.

And please don’t forget the Playdoh travel pak, the hottest stocking stuffer this year for mothers of preschoolers. It comes in three fluorescent colors and is guaranteed to crumble on any carpet, making the in-laws’ house seem just like mine.

If it’s too late to send any of these products, I’d settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container. If you don’t mind, l could use a few Christmas miracles to brighten the holiday season. Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable? It would clear my conscience immensely.

It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family or if my toddler didn’t look so cute sneaking downstairs to eat contraband ice cream in his pajamas at midnight.

Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is ringing, and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back. Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the chimney and come in and dry off by the fire so you don’t catch cold. Help yourself to the cookies on the table, but don’t eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet.

Yours always,

Mom