Like all hopeful kids, my brother and I left cookies out for Santa when we were young. Santa needed a snack, and our grandmother’s sugar cookies and a glass of eggnog fit the bill quite nicely.
Of course, I realize now that Santa’s elves would have appreciated a gin and tonic much more.
I also remember my grandfather sprinkling hay in the front yard for the reindeer AND ensuring that it was gone the next morning. I don’t know whose idea it was, but I do remember thinking that I was one lucky little girl. After all, EVERYBODY left cookies and milk for the jolly old overfed elf. Reindeer get hungry too, and not that many kids had access to a barn filled with hay.
Anybody out there with any Santa-snacking/reindeer-feeding traditions? Leave a comment and share.
Entirely Adequate 
We would leave out a carrot for Rudolph, and by the morning it was “chewed” down to just the very end, sitting neatly by the cookie crumbs and a dribble of milk at the bottom of the glass. It took great pride in the first time I got to cut teeth-marks into Rudolph’s carrot for our neighbor kids. Thanks for the memories, and Merry Christmas!