If you are anything like me, during the Christmas season, you find yourself saying things like “Santa’s watching….” or “Maybe we’ll need to let Santa know you’d like that for Christmas.” I can’t tell you how many times I cringe at the site of yet another toy commercial coming on the TV, and my kids saying “I want that! I want that!” And they are only 2 and 4, so I feel like we may need to prepare ourselves for dealing with this for a good while longer.
Luckily, I have jumped on the “Elf on the Shelf” bandwagon, and like many other mom’s, am truly happy I did. Not only is the little spy, I mean ELF, keeping a close eye on the kids during the day, but he reports back to Santa each night to let him know how his kid’s behaved that day. After the first few days, whenever an argument or whiny attitude occurred, I’d simply say “The Elf is watching….” and gives the kids a visual object, that is in the house…..making the idea that some is in fact watching.
Now, the deal with the Elf is this; he doesn’t get his magic until you give him a name (ours is Dazzle McNoodle). And once he has his magic, you can’t touch him, or he loses the magic. I have been having so much fun having him “land” in new places every day. After the kids go to bed, I sometimes get creative (on my own or by using the new Beyond the Shelf : Where to Find Your Elf App on my iPhone). Sometimes I am not-so-creative and I just move him from one shelf to the other. And on Christmas Eve, after Santa delivers the presents, Dazzle will fly off to the North Pole and return next Christmas.
And to add to the fun, there is a 30 minute Elf on the Shelf: The Elf’s Story movie! Check your local listings for show times, or you can even buy the DVD (I did this, and Dazzle is going to gift it to the kids on Christmas Eve).
Do you have an Elf on the Shelf? What’s his/her name? Has it worked out for your family?
I have the ELf!!!I haved been wanting him since last year and this year I purchased it through Target and even received a GC for the purchase. We read the book and watched the program on TV 2x the same night it was on. I jsut keep forgetting to hided the Elf but I do like this I hear som people say there kids do better the month of DEc. I figured hey a new Tradiotn ofr my 4 y/o and hope she remembers