SANTA'S BIG NIGHT by Brian Skinner

Mrs. Claus watched as her husband flew from room to room, trying to do everything at once, yet accomplishing nothing at all. She just shook her head and decided that he needed her help to get anything done.

"Now Santa, slow down and think for a minute, getting worked up isn't going to get you done any faster if you don't plan out what you're going to do!", explained Mrs. Claus.

"But if I don't do it, who will? I have to get the reindeer all set in their harnesses, make sure all the presents are packed, check the naughty/nice list again, get my Christmas suit on, get everything loaded on the sleigh..."

"Enough, enough!", cut off Mrs. Claus, "what do you think all the elves are for? They'll get it done better than you could anyways!"

"I know, I know, but if I mess up Christmas..."

"You never have before, it's not going to happen this year either, now sit down and plan out what you have to do, then take your time doing it", explained Mrs. Claus.

So Santa sat down and made a list of all the "to do's". If there is one thing Santa is good at, it's lists. First he went and checked to see how the reindeer were doing, the elves were doing a fine job, and Rudolph's nose was as shiny as possible. Next he checked to see how the toy workshop was doing on it's last second jobs, and everything was going smoothly. Santa checked his bag of gifts, to see if everything was being packed right. He though to himself that he was very happy that the bag was magical, because boy, would it ever be heavy if it wasn't. The sleigh was all ready to go, nice and clean. His suit was cleaned and ready, so he slipped it on. Mrs. Claus said he looked jollier than ever this year, he had put on a few pounds to make his belly a bit better for jiggling when he laughed. Not that he didn't have room for a few cookie breaks...

"Now see how much more productive you were once you sat down and did things calmly, instead of running around like a chicken with it's head off?", teased Mrs. Claus.

"Yes, yes, you were right...as usual.", conceeded Santa.

"That's why this place wouldn't run right if I wasn't around. Now, you be careful riding around on that sleigh of your's, and don't forget any gifts for the children!", reminded Mrs. Claus.

"I won't, I won't...speaking of which, I almost forgot to give one last look at the naughty/nice list...", Santa pulled out the list, "Well, looks like I'm going to be busy tonight, the kids have been extra good this year! Ho! Ho! Ho!"

"That's my Santa...now run along, and have a good time.", wished Mrs. Claus.

"Merry Christmas too all of you, I'll be back tomorrow morning! Ho! Ho! Ho!" , exclaimed Santa as he flew off into the night on his sleigh, to give presents to all the children of the world.