Anyone else have a 'love/hate' relationship with "The Elf"? I bought ours 4 years ago. Way back in the day, waaaaaaay before Pinterest was a 'thing'. It was such a nice simple time back then. (sigh)
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Yes, I will admit it. I took apart my Elf. I literally cut his body apart! (See why here.) |
I heard about The Elf from a friend and was happy to find one in our local Barnes and Noble. Not everyone had one and literally the only thing The Elf did was sit on the shelf. It was simple and fun at first.
But after a week of The Elf, my Afton deemed it frightening. She wouldn't come downstairs in the morning until I showed her where The Elf was. She said his face was creepy. She imagined him sneaking into her room at night. Terror. What a lovely Christmas activity huh?
So with Afton's help, I wrote a note to Santa and sent The Elf back to the North Pole. Since then, each December we have tried the The Elf again and again. We have tried "other" Elves.
I even crafted a girl Elf from a doll and cut up bits of our original "Elf on the Shelf". But it has not been enjoyable for her, so I had all but given up. Plus, even though all those Elf ideas on Facebook and Pinterest are funny, for me- they take too much time and energy. And they don't really have anything to do with the meaning of Christmas. I know that a lot of people enjoy elaborate Elf activities- and that is awesome- but the 'over the top' Elf stuff is not for me.
Now imagine my surprise when my 'baby' Maisy, who is now 5 years old, starts praying at night for an Elf to come to our house.
"Dear Jesus, I know Afton is afraid of The Elf, but I really want you to send a girl Elf to me. Amen." -Maisy, age 5
Oh my! So here I am. Back to The Elf game. I can't deny my last baby the chance to enjoy a little Christmas magic. Nothing crazy, but just a little sweet magic never hurt anyone right? Last night Jeff went into the attic while I was putting the girls to bed. When I came downstairs, I saw this. Our Elf had returned!
This morning, Afton came downstairs and screamed. "We have an Elf and she has curly hair!!!" And I am not kidding, she was laughing and screaming so loud a few tears rolled down her cheeks. Maisy woke up when she heard the commotion and smiled proudly when she saw her prayer had been answered.
The weird thing is, neither one of them remember that this exact same Elf came to our house exactly two years ago.
(See how I made her in this post here.) Isn't it great when kids have short memories :) They both kept saying how excited they are to
finally have a girl Elf!
So my girl Elf is 'new' again and the girls both seem happy to have her. Maisy named her "Carol" like Christmas Carol :) I am hoping she can stay around and hang out our shelves, chandeliers and cabinets. If she inspires the girls to 'be on their best behavior' that's great. Honestly, they are really good kids, so I am not going to push the whole 'the Elf is watching you' thing. That does get a little creepy... Our Carol the Elf is going to be more like a Will Ferrell type personality. You know, the type of Elf that eats candy canes with maple syrup and spreads cheer by singing loudly for all to hear :)
My heart is just happy that my girls can still see the magic in our world, especially at Christmas time. Childhood is short, seems like we all need to embrace it while we can.
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December 2010 |
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November 2014 |
Do you have an "Elf on the Shelf"? Do you go all out and set up Elf shenanigans or does your Elf just hang around?
We will be spending the day decorating our house for Christmas. Take a peek on Instagram @craftytexasgirl to see how it is all coming along.
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