Elf on a Shelf & Why We Are Not Friends

Elf on a Shelf has been around for a few years.  I've seen him (or her) in stores, and I even entertained the idea of buing one and trying it out in our house a couple of times.  But I never went through with it.  He always seemed like an awfully big committment.  You know, having to actually remember to move him around each night so we can all pretend he went to visit Santa while we were sleeping.  I have two kids; I didn't need anymore responsibility.

And then my mother-in-law gave us one.  Well, actually she gave it to us in July.  (Turns out he was a big committment for her too because she forgot about him until then.)  And I thought Okay, I can do this.  It'll be fun!  I should have known I was fooling myself when it took me a month of Sunday lunches out at my in-laws for me to finally remember to bring him home with us!  This little elf, he has been nothing but trouble for me since then...

I think the second night we had him was the first night I forgot to move him.  Go figure.  Then there was the night I was up at two in the morning because I woke up to use the bathroom and remembered I had forgotten about him.  Oh, and there are countless mornings that I have been standing in the bathroom getting ready for work only to hear Logan shouting at me from the living room that his elf didn't move.  There was the time I got home from work with the kids and left them strapped in the car so I could run in and move the elf since I had spent that morning convincing Logan that he was visiting Santa while Logan was at school.  And probably my lowest point:  the time I moved the elf in front of Gavin while Logan wasn't looking.  Turns out I really, really suck at remembering to move the dang elf!

That's not to say I didn't have good intentions though!  I found out about a week into the whole expereience that lots of people have their elves do cute (or messy) things.  Ooops - our elf had just been showing up sitting on different book shelves and such.  So, I used Pinterest to see what others were doing that was so cute and fun.  I even pinned a few things - not that I even bothered to do them...  Our elf has continued to just navigate around the house...when I remember of course...

The worst afternoon though was the day Gavin touched *GASP* the elf and Logan saw him do it!  The tears and wailing that followed, oh Lord!  My elf has no magic now!  Santa will never know I've been a good boy!  It was horrible.  It was ridiculous.  After about five minutes of this and my desperate attempts to convince Logan otherwise, I darn near gave up and shouted that the elf wasn't real and neither was Santa.  Seems I not only lack the ability to remember to move the elf in creative and fun ways (or move him at all period), but also the ability to keep my cool in the face of elf adversity.  No worries though, I didn't let the cat out of the bag...yet.

I outdid myself last night by not only remembering to move him before I went to bed, but also by creatively hanging him upside down from our curtain rod, so it may be difficult to top that performance.  It's all good though, because tonight is the last night I have to remember to move that dang elf! 

So, will I do elf on a shelf next Christmas?  Probably.  After all, we already have an elf, and there's no denying that despite me and my inability to fully committ (or remember) to this activity, my Logan has loved looking for his elf each day.  And next year, Gavin probably will too.  And those boys, my boys, they're what all this elf fuss is all about anyway.  So, as long as they love it, I'll keep doing it.  But, that doesn't mean the elf and I will ever be friends!