Friday, December 24, 2010

The Elf on the Shelf

It's Christmas Eve! Every family has its own traditions, and one of my family's fairly recently-started traditions is the Elf on the Shelf. Several years ago I found out about this little elf and the book that he comes with, documenting his story.(I've seen these all over the place this year... Barnes and Noble, Amazon.com., Target...) The elf arrives at our house at the beginning of December and hides somewhere central in the house so that he can see and hear what's happening in our home. Then each evening he flies back to the North Pole to report what he's seen and heard  to Santa. In the morning, he is back at our house in a new hiding place.

 The fun for my kids is looking for him each morning. The fun for the parents is using the Elf to try to encourage good Christmastime behavior (" The elf is watching you... you'd better be nice!") . The parents also have fun coming up with creative hiding places for the Elf.  Even though we celebrate the birth of Jesus at Christmas and know that THAT is the true reason for the season, our family does have fun with the Santa tradition as well, and our kids love Santa's little messenger, the Elf on the Shelf.

At our house, the Elf had various opportunities to hide in half-unpacked boxes, since there are still plenty of them around after our move. The Elf also likes to get a bird's-eye view from higher up!




Whatever your family traditions, I hope that you enjoy the next few days of your holiday.( I'll be back in a few days with more treats and ideas for New Years!) Merry Christmas to you and your family!

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