De-stressing on Christmas

Christmas time is always the happiest time of the year. As a kid, writing to Santa was always stressful because the letter had to be in early so Santa could make, or find and deliver exactly what I asked for.
When asking for my Santa gift, I couldn’t ask for too much because there were millions of kids and I couldn’t blow Santa’s budget. I couldn’t change my mind after the letter left either. Then after the letter left I had to be very good at least until Christmas or risk being struck off Santa’s map.
I was told that Santa liked very cold milk and homemade cookies on the table when he came and dad had to be reminded to leave a few flakes of nice green hay in the yard on Christmas Eve for the reindeer.
Preparing for Christmas always signaled a couple of extra shopping trips to the big city. Sometimes we went on the train from Shawville. The shopping trip seldom included a visit to a toy store because Santa already had his letter, so the train ride was the most exciting part of the shopping trip.