MERRY CHRISTMAS!  Please note: The story that follows is for PARENTS ONLY.  If you're a kid, go back to opening presents!

When I was little, my sister and I left milk and cookies for Santa every year.  We even got into the habit of leaving a carrot for Rudolph.  In retrospect, we probably should have left carrots for all the reindeer, but I digress...

Every Christmas  morning, the milk and cookies would be just picked over enough to let us know Santa had been there; and half the carrot was gone too!  It always made my sis and I so giddy; and, even knowing what I know now, I'm happy my parents went the extra mile with things like that.  It just made Christmas that much more special, you know?

So my fiance and I were talking last week about what fun things we'll do to get our kids excited about Santa.  She said she's heard of some parents actually climbing up and making noise on the roof, so the kids think Santa's sleigh just landed!

Now, I'm not sure I'll go that far, especially if we live in a two-story house.  But I definitely want to do the milk-and-cookies thing.  I'd also like to keep the news on TV the night of Christmas Eve, so we can watch NORAD track Santa on his journey around the world!

We were also talking about leaving little notes from Santa around the house, so our kids can hunt them down in the morning.  Maybe they could contain clues to a big present hidden somewhere!  Oh man, I'm getting excited just thinking about it!

So what's the craziest thing you've ever done to "get ready" for Santa's visit?  Let me know in the comments below.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

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