Elf on the Shelf



Sarah and Olivia with Justin the Elf

Justin found a spot on the oven recently

As a former working Mom, I had co workers who would swear by the Elf on the Shelf.  I would hear tales of how their kids loved it and how they would be so good for the month before Christmas. I really didn't know what this elf thing was, or why it was a good idea.  I put it on my list of "things to Google" and went back to to my desk.  This year, as an Accidental Stay At Home Mom, I finally had the time to check it out.  A few weeks back I was cruising the aisles in Target, and saw that they had these Elf things on sale.  I picked one up and learned the rules to Elf on a Shelf:

1. You must name him
2. At night the Elf flies back to Santa and reports on the childrens' behaviour
3. The Elf will reappear in a different spot in the house
4. No one is allowed to touch the Elf

For a link to the official Elf on a Shelf website, click here
My 2 girls are ages 5 and 7 and have really gotten into this.  They went through several names (Sebastian, Daniel, Fred) before settling on the name Justin.  They now pop right out of bed every morning to see where Justin has landed. They each want to be the first one to find him.  Sarah's eyes light up and she is so happy when she finds him.  For the first couple of days Olivia kept asking, "Mommy are you SURE that it wasn't you that moved the Elf??"

Yesterday we had some of the girls' friends over to play.  Things were going well until Kylie, age 8, screamed out from the kitchen,  "I see Mr. Nutcracker! I see Mr. Nutcracker!"  Alarmed, I walked over to see if there was a serial killer sitting at my kitchen table.  She was pointing to our Elf, Justin, who had landed on the light fixture above the kitchen table.  Whew.  OK, another crisis narrowly averted.  "Mr. Nutcracker?" I asked. "Yes," Kylie said, "We call our Elf Mr. Nutcracker."  Gotcha.