The Elf on the Shelf

She's Back!!!!! I'm talking about Holly, my family's Elf on the Shelf.  This is our second year of having an Elf, and Holly has become a much-loved part of the holiday season around our house - at least for the kids. Me? I have mixed feelings, and I think I'm not alone.

Did you know that there are countless boards on Pinterest devoted to Elf on the Shelf ideas? There are photos of elves fishing for goldfish crackers with candy canes instead of rods, elves making snow angels out of flour, elves making crafts like paper snowflakes, and elves toasting mini-marshmallows over a candle flame. (There are also naughty, adult-themed Elf boards - I'll let you use your imagination, but Barbie has quite a relationship with various Elves.)  

I've heard of moms using planning calendars to map out this year's Elf exploits months in advance, but personally, it's more than I can handle to simply make sure Holly  moves from one place to another every night, let alone create elaborate scenarios for her to enact.  This year, after she failed to change locations three days in a row, "she" wrote my kids a note that said she was saving her energy because it's exhausting having to make that journey to the North Pole every night - I figure that will cover me the next time I forget to move her.  I'm not really sure why people choose to have their elves make all sorts of mischief, particularly when the Elf's job is to report back to Santa  - I want my Elf to set a good example, not give the girls ideas on how they can best misbehave!

Our kids love to write notes to Holly and eagerly wait for her to respond. Last year, after a day of particularly poor behavioral choices, one daughter wrote Holly a note asking if she was on the Naughty or Nice List; Holly wrote back and said she was on the Naughty List but still had time to turn things around and gave her a list of things she needed to accomplish - this was far more effective at getting her to adjust her attitude than anything I had ever tried before!  That's about as creative as I think i care to get with Holly, and I'm okay with that.

How about you? Any fun Elf-realted stories to tell?

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