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It’s that time of year. Weather is cooler, holiday music is playing everywhere, the beautiful lights can be seen up and down the street….and…..the elf is back.
Oh, yes…THAT elf….the elf on the shelf.
I still remember when I bought him.
First off, I was kicking myself for not thinking of this genius plan myself. I mean….they must be loaded. It was genius! I would buy this cute little elf, read my kids the story and BAM! My children would act like little angels in fear of getting a bad report from the elf to Santa. They named him Elfie….totally original (insert eyeroll here). They seemed to totally understand the concept and that they must be good and not touch the elf EVER or he would lose his powers.
At first, I was very diligent in changing Elfie’s location EVERY day.
Well, almost every day.
The times I could forget, I would tell them that either he was too tired to fly back ( he must be a parent) or they acted so bad, he was embarrassed to report it. They always said it was the former. Then, after several years into this, I started seeing all these crazy pictures on social media of CRAZY things other elf’s were doing….like, zip lining across the living room, having parties with other toys, even bringing gifts with him.
The kids would even come home and tell me what their friends’ elves were doing. The pressure was ON. I did what every mom does when she’s strapped for ideas…hit up Pinterest. I proceeded to pin at least a hundred fun things to do with your elf…knowing there was about a 99.9% chance NONE of them would ever come to fruition. I did try a few…kids were somewhat impressed….but it became a quest to out do the idea before. It was too much….not to mention, they still acted like total brats.
The elf on the shelf had lost his luster and I started to dread seeing his beady, little eyes…and that smile…why does he always have to be smiling? Shouldn’t we be able to change his facial expressions to show disappointment when the kids are being little terrors? I was over it.
Now today, with my daughter being almost thirteen and a non-believer, she has taken over Elfie duties….thank you, baby Jesus! She is pretty creative, I have to say. My son is ten and still a total believer in all things Santa, so he thoroughly enjoys getting up every day and finding Elfie.
In hindsight, I should have known my kids would need something more than a cute, non-threatening looking, smiling elf in a cute costume to make them behave. I wish I would have gone with Chucky in a Chair, or maybe Clown on the Couch. Those would have probably been way more effective.
