Elf on the Shelf

A few years back on my Pinterest feed I kept seeing this “Elf on the Shelf” character pop up around Christmas time. The elf was posed into al kinds of funny and often mischievous scenarios – needless to say I could not wait until my kids were old enough so I could partake.

Finally, this year our first son is 4 1/2 and he’s old enough to really take part in this tradition. I went out and bought the storybook and elf box – I scored a deal at $34.95 on amazon.ca – in-store you can expect to drop at least $50. I cringed at the price – for a book and a bizarre looking elf I thought it was a bit much – but I also know it will be used year after year so in the long run it was more of an investment.

I set the box at our front door and told my son that earlier today mom and dad had run into santa at the mall and he was asking if Nate was being a good boy and that he would be sending something early this year for him. I then told Nate I heard a knock – He opened the door to find his own elf waiting for him. We opened the box, read the story – which is a very cute story and explains the purpose of the elf. We named him “Hyde the Elf” and I left him in the box on our shelf. I told Nate that we would have to wait to see what happens overnight.

Now came the moment I was waiting years for, I carefully unpacked the elf. I was surprised at the quality. It was very basic- a plastic head sewn to a felt body. I was a little dissappointed. I thought at least the body would be bendable but he was cute and the face did seem to have a “real” magic to it. So I set him on a shelf in our living room, gave him a tiny book to make it look like he was reading. I could hardly contain my excitement (really, I think this is more fun for the parents)

In the morning my son went to the box to learn that overnight the elf escaped the box and was loose in the house. I’ve never seen him eat breakfast so fast. And then the satisfying moment happened. He spotted the elf – sitting there on the shelf reading his book. He was laughing so hard he started to cry. That moment right there was worth it. The absolute joy of a child and the magic of Christmas was alive in our house. Throughout the day I’ve been switching the books and Nate is completely captivated, trying to catch this elf sneaking a new book.

All I can say is that this is going to be a ton of fun this Christmas seeing what kind of trouble Hyde is going to get into.