Last year I bought the book, The Elf on the Shelf, along with the elf. The idea behind the book is that every year Santa sends an elf to every child's house to spy on the child. Every day between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve, the elf shows up at your house in the morning and then leaves at night while you are sleeping to report back to Santa on the child's behavior. A couple of rules come with the elf: 1) you have to name him (our elf is Everest); 2) you should talk to him (plead your case if need be); and 3) you cannot touch him. For the grown-ups, the elf comes with a duty to move him every morning to a new spot so that the children think he's really going to the North Pole and coming back every night. Quite frankly, it's a lot of pressure. A couple of times last year I had to make up outlandish stories about blizzards and flu outbreaks in the North Pole to explain why the elf was still in the same spot in the morning as he had been the day before:
Casey: "Mom, Everest didn't go to the North Pole last night!"
Mom: "Well you must have been so bad yesterday that Everest couldn't bear to go report on you to Santa. You are breaking that poor little elf's heart. He must be giving you a second chance today -- so you better be doubly good. Come in here and help me scrub this toilet."
Casey: "Yes Ma'am!!"
Here's where Everest was this morning:
Here's where he was yesterday:
(Joe thinks it's funny to put Everest in clearly uncomfortable positions -- and no, Everest is not anatomically correct; that's an elephant's trunk -- though he'd be a hit among the lady elves, I grant you that. Not that Everest is a player, mind you. I'm sure he and Mrs. Everest are very happy together. It was just a ridiculously-inappropriate-for-a-family-friendly-blog turn of speech.)
And the day before:
And the day before that:
Joe and I are doing our part in moving Everest around the house as you can see. But I think Casey is starting to catch on. Today in the car on the way to school, Casey said, "Hey Mom, have you ever noticed that Everest never blinks?" Once he starts doubting the elf, it's all downhill. Next thing you know he'll be asking me why Santa sounds so much like Pop Pop and then he'll want to know how the tooth fairy gets through the window and then he'll be wanting to know where babies come from. It's too soon. I can't take it. I have to think of a reason why Everest never blinks.
you can tell him that he becomes a statue in the day time and becomes alive only at night when everyone is asleep!!! Simple. Anyways, I have never heard of that story and saga in my life. That would have been fun that Santa going through the chimney and eating the cookies and milk (and I convinced the guys that Santa prefers white wine and mince pies!). Thanks Jen for a lovely bedtime story.
ReplyDeleteMy kids still believe in Santa, but Luke asked some very pointed questions about the birds and the bees a few years ago so that, in a nutshell, he's known exactly where babies come from since age 4-1/2. I say this so you are prepared in case these questions come in the wrong order. Just sayin'.
ReplyDeleteSo, one of my students has an elf, J.J.. He always comes on December 2. Kyle wrote an essay about JJ--about how his sparkly blue eyes always cheer him up when he's down. He gets up every morning at 6:15 to find where JJ is, and he confides to him his deepest secrets. Kyle is in 3rd grade. Let's hope Casey lasts that long!
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