Preparing for Santa

The other day I caught Sarah with a hand full of baby wipes, cleaning the fireplace. Her hands were black as soot. At first I fussed at her for messing around the fireplace (which she's not supposed to do) and getting dirty. Then I had to laugh when she defended herself. "But Mama, I have to clean the chimney so Santa won't get his suit dirty!" When it came time to put out the milk and cookies, Sarah carefully selected the ones she thought Santa would like best out of the assortment we had. She thought it was best to leave them on the mantle (instead of by the tree) cause she thought he certainly could not miss them there. When I went to put the cookies out, Sarah informed me that we MUST cover them with something so they wouldn't get stale. So we did. She also drew Santa a picture, which we placed with the milk and cookies. Man, I gotta be thorough about this Santa business cause my child does NOT play when it comes to Santa! (grin) She is definitely her mother's daughter.