Elf On The Shelf

Last year my sister gave us Elf on the Shelf as a gift. This year we started it, hoping to start a new tradition. For those of you that aren't familiar with the concept, I copied and pasted the description so that you would get an idea of how it all works.

HOW IT WORKS: The kit comes with an elf doll and a book. The book explains
that Santa has sent an elf to watch over the children and the elf reports back
to Santa each night. The kids get to decide the name for the elf together - this
is a touch decision! You read through the book with your child, it explains all
the rules, then each night you move the elf to a new spot. One of the rules is
that the children cannot touch him - this is a great rule because although he's
a sturdy doll, I think he might get loved out much too quickly if they were
allowed! The author was so thoughtful to think of all these helpful
rules.
Rules: * The children cannot touch the elf or he will lose his
magic * The elf can listen to what the children tell him, but cannot talk
back, that's Santa's law. * The elf flies back to the North Pole each night
and tells Santa what he has seen - when he comes back he goes to a new spot in
the house.The kids start searching for the elf immediately when they
wake up! Knowing Santa is watching has definitely motivated them to be a behave
a bit better! This cute little tradition makes the Christmas season more fun.
It's a very special tradition in our house. I love that the book has an old
fashioned feel to it, the illustrations are wonderful.

Our Elf's name is Jingle. Jingle has been busy reporting back to Santa over the last few weeks. It took Dylan the first few days to understand and get the hang of it, but now he looks forward to finding Jingle each morning. As he walks down the stairs he yells "Where's Jingle?". He looks and looks, and with excitement he points and smiles daily when Jingle is found.

Zack is in charge of moving Jingle. Finding new spots for him is a challenge because we don't want Dylan to touch him. If given the opportunity, Dylan WILL TRY and touch him. That brings me to poor Jingle. He has been a busy little elf. Overall, Dylan is a wonderful, sweet little boy, but these days he is entering a new stage. He spends many moments in his room or in time out. So we are constantly reminding him that Jingle is watching and that Santa won't come if he has to many 'naughty' days. For the most part it's working, but there are moments Dylan gives us the " Who really cares if that dumb elf tells Santa, I don't' want presents anyway" look. Yes my son has an evil side. Forget the terrible two's, he is almost three and we are going to be experiencing the terrible three's.

We are enjoying this new tradition. Hopefully it will continue to work. It's something fun to incorporate into the holiday season. I included some of the places we've placed Jingle. We can't repeat any spots because Dylan has a good memory. Every few days he will tell me all of the spots Jingle has been.

Hopefully Jingle will have good news for Santa over the next two weeks. Time is ticking and Dylan REALLY wants presents.

Santa Claus is coming to town!