Elf on the Shelf – not for the under 10 readers!
There have been lots of commentaries in the mass media about the Elf on the Shelf love it or hate it the under 10 crowd all know what it’s about and it is a very present part of many people’s Holiday build up.
Here’s how it works at our house:
The Elves – yup we have 2 my kids are not the best sharers and we had an old one from Grammy so the retro version showed up too! For the record 2 Elves can get into way more trouble than one.
Timing – they show up whenever Santa remembers to send them! They have been found once or twice hiding out in the tote boxes that we store decorations in, imagine that silly elves.
Names – um yeah about that place in the back of the book where you are supposed to write the names that your oh so adorable toddlers made up – epic fail!
Busted – Luckily their much older sister must have gotten in so late that the elves were scared off from their flight to the North Pole and waited until Mum was at the Post Office!
Pintrest and other parent shaming social sharing sites – I avoid them like the plague and look for links like ‘25 easy things to do with your elf’
Lying – Many parents constantly lie to their kids its part of the deal to enhance and preserve the innocence of childhood and create a little grown up magic in a world that is sometimes pretty tough!
Behavior – a lot of the diatribe on the internet revolves around the moral implications of threatening small children that the elves are going to report to Santa about bad behavior and they will ultimately get coal in their stocking. Luckily my kids are always angels and behave perfectly at all times so we never have to use this threat.
Fun – I think it is totally fun and I love my kids waking up and hunting down the elves laughing at their antics and discussing if they really can see hot glue holding their heads on.
If you’re going to do the Easter Bunny, Santa or the Tooth Fairy then a little Elf magic certainly can’t hurt can it?
It would be kind of fun if they showed up at Camp Runoia.
More reading about those loveable elves is available for endless hours on the www
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/style-blog/wp/2014/12/16/the-elf-on-the-shelf-is-preparing-your-child-to-live-in-a-future-police-state-professor-says/
https://www.facebook.com/elfontheshelf