Wednesday, December 3, 2008

A New Tradition

We started a new tradition at our house this year, and I'm really excited about it. We now have an Elf on the Shelf. Has anyone heard of this before? I just found it at a boutique shop on Monday and I took it home and read it to the kids immediately. It is a book that comes with a little elf who sits on a shelf -- hence the name "Elf on the Shelf". The purpose of this elf is for the elf to keep a close watch on the children of the house during the Christmas season and report back to Santa every night whether the kids have been good or bad. The elf gets its magic when you name him but will lose his magic if the children touch him. He can't talk to children, but he can talk to adults, and everyone can talk to the elf. Each night he flies back from the North Pole and sits somewhere else in the house. It has been so much fun already!

We read the book Monday night and named our elf Murphy (my second choice for George's middle name). Murphy started out on our mantle over the fireplace in the den but the next morning he was on the mantle over the fireplace in our formal living room. The kids were amazed and so excited when they spotted him. This morning he was on our Christmas tree in the den. I don't know if the kids have spotted him yet.

I have reminded the children a few times that Murphy is watching them and will report back to Santa with any bad or good behavior. It has been pretty fun so far. Now that Grandma is in town, we've explained how there is an elf in our house and how no one can touch him. It has been so fun to watch the kids try to name him. Their first picks for names included "Elf" and "Mommy." We'll have to work on their imagination and creativity.

Here's a link to the Elf on the Shelf and an itty bitty picture of the book and elf.


I registered our Elf with the North Pole yesterday and will take the certificate home to include in our book. I am really impressed with this website too. It is amazingly advanced. Hope you all enjoy the website and will hopefully get an elf of your own!

5 comments:

Jess said...

Love this!

Anonymous said...

My crazy cousin sarah bought this for Alex and he likes it alright. he also insisted on naming him "elf", until I gave him a few better names to choose from. "Elf" is now "Eddie" and Alex likes to find him when he wakes up in the morning. This morning he was resting on the stairs. I am anxious to get our advent calander in the mail, it has a velcro nativity scene and I think Alex will really love doing that every morning. Last year we made an advent wreath, and I am waiting on my candles for this year to come in the mail...that is my favorite family tradition, but not as much fun for the kids :).

Stacey said...

Someone else just recently told me about this....it was the first I had heard of it. Such a cute idea! We might start a new tradition, too! I like the advent calendar idea, as well.

Theresa said...

Stacy - You can get it at Feathers (by Sapristi), and I hear it is also at Barnes & Noble. Both are close to you. I need to stop by and pick up dinner tonight. Got anything good?

Emma said...

Madeline got one from Mimi during Thanksgiving! She loves hers - a boy elf named Belle. And she loves looking for him/her every morning. I just hope I can remember to move the little booger every night. So far, so good.