The Birth of a Tradition

One Christmas, a long, long time ago, Santa was getting ready for his annual trip, but there were problems everywhere.  It seems that four of his elves got sick, and the elves from the temp agency did not produce toys as fast as the regular ones so Santa was beginning to feel the pressure of being behind schedule.

And, then, Mrs. Claus dropped her bombshell.  She told Santa that her mom was coming for a visit...and this stressed poor Santa even more.

On top of that, when he went to harness the reindeer, he found that three of them were about to give birth and another two had jumped the fence and were out, Heaven knows where...More stress....Then, when he began to load the sleight, one of the boards cracked, and the toy bag fell to the ground and scattered all the toys.

So, a very frustrated Santa went into the house to fetch a cup of apple cider and a shot of rum.  But, when he went to the cupboard, he discovered that the elves had not only drank all the cider, but also hidden the liquor so he had nothing to drink.  And, in his frustration, he accidentally dropped the cider pot, and it shattered into hundreds of little pieces all over the kitchen floor.  He went to get the broom to sweep it up and found that the mice had eaten all the straw.  Just then, the doorbell rang, and a very irritated Santa trudged to the door.  He opened the door, and there was a little angel with a great big Christmas tree.

The angel said, very cheerfully, "Merry Christmas, Santa.  Isn't this a lovely day?  I have a beautiful tree for you.  Where would you like me to stick it?" 

Thus began the tradition of the little angel on top of the Christmas tree.