The Elf on the Shelf

Do you know the Elf on the Shelf?

The other night, we were attending a Dinner Party and every couple was talking about it.

A little Elf who comes to your house and reports to Santa every night on how good/bad the children were that day. Every morning the Elf magically moves to a different spot and the kids try to find him in the house. They can't touch him or the Elf would lose his magic power. It teaches discipline and good behavior to the children.

The following day, I rushed to Borders to get the combo Book/Elf. As I am getting ready to check out, I noticed that a guy right behind me was holding one as well. We smiled at each other.. "social pressure", he said..." great marketing idea.." I added...


Back home, I dropped the Elf on the front door, rang the door bell and ran back in the house through the back door. My kids opened the door and we brought our Elf inside. We read the book and my kids started to talk to Samba - we had to give him a name.

Reminder to all parents:
- Do not drink too much at night since the Elf has to be moved to a different spot every morning - the Elf goes back to see Santa every night and then returns to your house. If you pass out and you forget to move the Elf, it will be panic mode in the early AM.
- If one of your kids is kind of suspicious about a puppet being able to move by itself, tell him/her that he/she has nothing to lose in talking to the Elf and believing in the Magic of it. After all, if the Elf is really reporting to Santa, it is all benefit to the child to behave until Christmas.(you should have seen the face of my 5 year old, the first morning when he saw the Elf sitting on the curtain Rod. He looked at me with his smart face.."Dad, how did a stuffed puppet fly up there by itself?")


Anyway, I love the idea... if you have an Elf at home, feel free to share your tips with us. If you don't have one, hurry.. It seems like all the kids are starting to talk about it...