Santa's Little Helper

Sydney has been asking the question that many parents have heard over the years “How does Santa know if we are being good or naughty?” Steve had been responding with the simple answer “magic.” When that didn’t satisfy her unending desire to know more, he told her about the special elves that Santa has hiding all around. They watch the children and report back to Santa.

To Sydney’s surprise, Santa came by our house yesterday to drop off a special package! It was a book called “The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition” (http://www.elfontheshelf.com/). We sat down with the kids and read them the story. It told us about Santa’s scout elves that stay in your house. First you have to name the elf, then he will receive his Christmas magic. He will stay in your house and be Santa’s eyes and ears. Each night, when you go to bed, the elf will fly back to the North Pole and give Santa the scoop on how the kids are behaving. In the morning, the elf will fly back and be in a new spot in the house. There is only one rule, you cannot touch the elf or he may lose his Christmas magic. The elf will stay in your house until Christmas Eve when he will fly back to the North Pole to stay until the next Christmas season.

After hearing the story of the scout elf, I told Sydney that an elf was already in our house watching and that she should go find him so we could name him. Sydney said that we should team up to look for him. She picked her daddy for her team. Steve and Sydney found him first. (Halas was certain we would find him in the dog food.)

The elf was on our mantle. They named him Fred. Fred watched the kids all night. Sydney swears that he moved a couple of times. When she woke up this morning she was already asking where Fred was. I told her we could go look for him after she got dressed for school.

Side note (has nothing to do with the elf…I’m just venting here) - this had to cut about 15 minutes off of the time it usually takes her to put her uniform on. Seriously, what takes her so long to get dressed? It’s not like she even has to pick out an outfit. How long will this process take when she is a teenager?

Back to my elf story – We found Fred this morning hanging out on the TV. I would love to be a fly on the wall when he starts telling Santa what goes on in our house.