Santa Claus is coming to town!

No really, he is!

I went to the mall by myself last Thursday - November 3rd - while Meredith was in school and my mom was watching Alex. I heaved a huge sigh and rolled my eyes when I passed Dillard's and realized that the mall had already set up everything for Santa. Enormous tree? Check. Fake fireplace? Check. Fancy wingback chair? Check. Camera equipment for overpriced photos with the jolly old elf? Check. The big guy in red wasn't there yet, but everything is already set up for his arrival.

I love Christmas as much as the next person, and I will confess that I've already bought a few ornaments this year because that's what happens when Hobby Lobby puts out their stock of Christmas ornaments in August. However, I draw the line at decorating my home for Christmas immediately after Halloween. Generally speaking, the earliest I'm willing to put up a tree (artificial obviously) is the weekend before Thanksgiving, and that's usually only done those years when we're going to be out of town for Thanksgiving.

This year, I have decided to go along with the retailers and let Christmas come early. At least in part. You see, I am planning to take my children to the mall this week after school. I'm going to walk them around Santa's set up and talk to them about Christmas and what they want and what our plans are for the holiday.

Then, I'm going to look them both in the eyes and say in my most serious "Mommy means business" voice, "Santa Claus is watching you." If the retailers can stretch Christmas to two months, then surely I can use Santa bribery to get two months of good behavior out of my kids.