Can we talk about the whole elf on the shelf thing? I swore we would never do this, but it becomes difficult to explain to your kids that they do not have an elf, while all of their friends do. So last year we got one, but we were terrible at moving it. We did a few fun things, but most of the time we just moved the elf around the room. The kids named our elf Evie. We did not realize there were boy and girl elves, and we had a boy, but the kids thought it was a girl. I guess there is a lesson there about gender identity, or something.
But this year, I decided to get into it. I figured the kids will believe in this stuff for a few more years, then they will think it is lame. So why not have some fun with it. I knew if I got into it, then I would have the motivation to do it each night. Here is every night…
The first day was just Evie coming back with a little letter to the kids. I wanted to type and print a letter, but our printer was out of ink. So I had to write it. My handwriting is not great, and the kids know what it looks like, so I decided to write in cursive. When Evie drew stuff on their pictures, the kids thought that was hilarious.
I saw this idea on a bunch of elf sites. It was difficult! First off, the elf floats, so it was hard to freeze it. I had to put a weight on it, then remove it once the water started to freeze. I set an alarm for 5:00 a.m. to check on the progress, it was mostly frozen through, so I took it out of the bowl, and set it up, so the kids would see it in the morning. When they came out, it had already begun to melt. Once they were in school, I melted the rest of the ice, and tossed the elf in the dryer. BAD DECISION! The head started to melt. Not enough that anyone can tell, but the hat is fused to the head now, haha. When they came home, Evie was with Anna & Elsa, roasting marshmallows.
Sometimes you need an easy elf day. Hiding it in a wreath or on the tree helps. I enjoyed the Oreos and milk on top of our hanging dining room light.
Ice fishing on the toilet (only recommend if you have multiple bathrooms). Seinfeld reference! The kids did not get it, but whatever. And Evie found the magic lamp, and wished for lots of money. Have to be careful with the wording of those wishes.
I made that hang-glider, and the kids did not appreciate the difficulty! It took me awhile since I had to find ways to connect Evie to the glider, and make it look natural. They were much more impressed with Evie fixing a tire.
It has been like thirty years since I last wrote in cursive. I was definitely a bit rusty. I kept forgetting how to make a ‘b’. Anyway, they loved this little scavenger hunt. I had to help them a little bit though.
Some of these are from ideas I saw online, others were original. The chimney inspection was my idea. The floss one, I stole that from the internet. The hot tub and feast, well they were sort of original.
Who the hell came up with this nonsense? Elf pets??? Apparently they are Elf on the Shelf branded pets (a reindeer, arctic fox, and St.Bernard), the kids can touch these though. I do not know, but Payton & Logan were convinced they would get them. Lindsey checked at Walmart, but they were sold out, and Amazon would not have them here until the 28th of December. Sooooo, I wrote a little note from Evie.
And the end is finally here!
