The newest tradition

I have a lot of friends who have done the Elf on the Shelf over the last several years. I thought it was a cute idea but I just never did it. I can't pinpoint exactly why. I just didn't. But recently it has come to my attention that this special magical scout elf sent to help Santa keep tabs on all the naughty and nice things the kids do right before the holiday can be known to get into a bit of mischief himself. And that sold me as it seemed like something the kids would really get a kick out of.

So, Wednesday night, the last day in November, I read the accompanying book that comes with the Elf on the Shelf to the kids. They were super excited. We had some arguments over naming him - Jadyn wanted to name him Mr. Elf. Jake wanted to name him Mike. I pointed out that since all of our names started with J, maybe his should too and the next thing you know we had Jerfie Jelf the elf, although it has already been shortened to Jelfie.

When the kids woke up on Thursday morning, the first day of December, I thought they wouldn't know what to do first - look in the #1 door of the Advent calendar? Search for Jelfie? But no, instead they immediately started watching Daddy who had made it to some special level on Harry Potter Legos Years 5-7 for Xbox. So much for that.

But with a little prompting, they remembered what was special about this particular morning. They found their chocolate coins and note for the day in the calender and then found Jelfie chilling on the shelf above in front of the poinsettia. The first thing Jadyn said, "He looks like a toy!".


Leave it to Daddy to save the day explaining that Jelfie was like Buzz or Woody in Toy Story. He may look like a toy when we are around but he comes to life when no one is looking. This seemed to work. The rest of the morning both kids giggled on several occasions at the thought of being secretly watched by their own personal scout elf.

Jelfie also brought with him a letter from Santa. It explained that he had sent Jelfie to help him, that he was impressed and proud of the kids behavior so far this year, that he had sent a list of ideas for the notes in the calendar to help mom and dad out and to remind the kids that he would be bringing them exactly four presents this year - something they want, something they need, something they wear and something they read. The kids were quite intriqued that Santa had taken the time to write them a note reiterating what Mommy, Daddy and the Elf book had already been telling them.

So now for the next 24 days, Jelfie will be found each morning in a unique location, sometimes getting himself into mischief. Let the antics begin!