So the Elf thing...

Let us belabor the subject. Since I am always inclined to do so... and perhaps in this case also a little worried that my adult children might in the future see an inconsistency in this. (Skip to the cute pictures if you're just here to see the kids' fun activities. No one will ever know. Haha)

We, as a family just do it for fun. These elves aren't snitches jaja. For many reasons, we also do not do the Santa Claus thing, so there is no secret to keep. Which is a good thing, considering the kids have often walked out of their room in the middle of the night to get a drink or use the restroom (or, yes, to shamelessly try to sneak into our bed, which we still let them do on occasion... ok we let them do it a lot.) I can see how this might be confusing, though, that a family that does not do the Santa Claus thing has started doing the elf on the shelf thing...

Last year, in the middle of Advent, Miss E made an official request. She had heard all about the elf on the shelf tradition from her friends and really wanted to do it. If you think the elves are creepy, I have to admit I don't disagree with you! They look kinda creepy to me, too, and I had sort of automatically decided we weren't doing this, for reasons I thought would be obvious to her. But she really wanted to do it, and honestly, I knew if the children understood it isn't real- if they knew it was totally just me doing fun setups for them to find the next morning- then my main concern was no longer an issue: They would not feel the pressure of a negative reinforcement the narrative behind which we do not believe in to begin with. We also have had several conversations about gifts, the true reason for the Christmas celebration, and how the stories of Santa Claus affect families who, often for unfair reasons, do not enjoy the financial privilege and social status that other people have. These conversations are not necessarily always elf related and we were having them as soon as I thought the kids had a sense of their spirituality (and frankly, a sense of their social status), since I think it is very important for them to understand that while it is okay to enjoy the blessings we have been given, it is absolutely a part of our family's belief system that we should also share these blessings with our neighbor, and that this responsibility comes first (the story of the Good Samaritan comes to mind). Though they are young, our children are privy to the otherwise somewhat private ways in which Q and I invest our time, effort, and finances into big and small ways of helping and sharing with others, and they are encouraged to share whatever they as children might be able to share with others. With all of this in mind, I am confident in our kids' innate and learned ability to see the difference between tons and tons of fun and irresponsible overindulgence. So though I admit it felt like the inner conversation was necessary last year, when I did have it, I was able to give my more conservative self the freedom to do this unorthodox thing.

All of which brings me to the simpler, fun little fact, that we bought an elf for Miss E last year, in the middle of the season. It took us a few tries too, because we were late, and because I wanted a brown skinned, brown eyed girl elf, and because I didn't want the book- I was hoping to buy just the elf. Even this year, when I tried to buy a second elf for mr E very early in the season (he didn't ask for one, but I started worrying about things being equitable between him and miss E) I still couldn't find an elf that I could buy without having to get a second book-- seriously, what do they expect families with more than one child to do after the first, second, third elves? People just have to let those books pile up, I guess. I'm pretty sure they're only sold as a package. But it seemed so wasteful to me, so I bought a slightly different elf- also, and this is what I told the kids, I think this one is actually cuter in style and in my opinion is also better built! And I decided a little representation was a good thing on both accounts, and so now we have a slightly fairer boy elf for the kiddo. I'm still going to paint his eyes brown, though. Haha. This whole thing makes me wonder if I take our parenting too seriously... but goodness! if that isn't a whole other can of worms...

This year the elves came to visit us very early. I called it an emergency landing (because we have found new levels of boredom, now that the weather allows for even less outings than before) and started in early November. Yup. I am crazy. And I will have used up two years worth of Pinterest elf ideas in one year. Nevertheless, we needed the little extra bit of sugar in our lives, methinks, and we have had lots of fun with it. Honestly, I do have a lot of fun setting these up at the end of the day. And I really enjoy the children's reactions in the morning.

And now that I've given you my spiel, I will continue to reel off in a different way and share a very silly collection of videos and pictures of my favorite set-ups and the activities "they" (though the kids know it's me, of course) brought about so far.

There's a couple videos, which don't seem to show for me when reading on my phone. If you don't see the videos but would like to watch them, click on the "view web browser version" option under the home button. Then, the videos, not just the pictures, will also show. 

Ok. Sooooo:

This was our first set-up this year. "We're back!" "Actually, I'm new!"

Here they are with the Nativity scene. Oh come, let us adore Him.

And zip lining through the breakfast room...

At one point, I announced I had had an exhausting (though very good) day, and was expecting the elves to not have a helper that night, so the kids did a set-up themselves >.< Haha! Miss E served tea and cookies for her elf, and Mr E had his elf take a wild ride on one of his stuffed dragons.

 

We had a gingerbread house activity...

We turned on the Christmas music. Daddy took a well deserved nap. The kids played that their tiny dolls and dinosaurs lived in the houses. At some point the tiny dinosaur got kicked? Kicked out? And by the end of the night, the houses were mostly devoid of any candy and I threw the rest away haha.

Miss E helped me sew pajamas for the elves and was rewarded with pajamas for both her and Mr E. When I woke up the kids were both in the breakfast nook waiting for me to move the elves so they could try on the pajamas. I was like... why??? hahaha. I guess even the rules are part of the fun. But then I knew I could use that setup where they are in a special pod for kids to take them around for a day, so I did that too.

And all the usual stuff...

The elves went sledding on the morning of the day it snowed... Haha! That scarf looks more like a beard!

And they had a spa day (night?)

The night before that they set up a Santa and elf mirror prank

 

I thought this one with the car and the dinosaur was funny jiji

 

Yoga, of course, since the kids were doing yoga every morning.

 

But it was this one that brought on the biggest giggles so far, I think. They were audible in the kitchen all the way from the other side of the house. Q even posted about it. I think he's surprised I wake up early for some things ...some times... LoL

I am not a morning person. Jejeje...

It was a happy discovery, though! The realization that Barbie doll outfits fit the elves! It occurred to me that they should have a dress up party! It was awesome! The kids loooooved it!!

 I've done maybe 30 or so this year, so I could just keep going and going... but this is basically the gist of the thing. We have really found it to be a great creativity outlet, and, even better, a great excuse to have fun or give to the children the usual little Christmas things they get each year in a more  "special" way. I still have another set of pajamas and some ugly Christmas sweaters for them. Can't wait!