🎄 The Elf 🎄**
We don’t do Elf on the Shelf. Not because we’re anti-elf… but because we’re practical. (Read: cheap.)
BUT we do have our very own elf who visits our house each year and does all the same things. The kids have always loved him and never once questioned why our elf looked different from all the others. It’s been a good reminder for me—sometimes with a gentle nudge (or swift kick) from Molly—that the magic isn’t in the marketing, but in the experience.
Our elf always shows up the morning after our Christmas tree is cut and brought inside, and he sticks around through Christmas Eve. Most mornings he’s found a new perch or has gotten himself into some sort of predicament. Just yesterday we found his feet sticking out of one of the stockings. Other days, though, I guess he just really likes his spot, because he’ll stay put and chill for a bit.
The kids have learned—and respected—the rule that you can’t touch the elf, or he might lose a bit of his magic. That said, they’ve also gotten very creative over the years. Tongs, gloves, and even two cooking spoons have all been deployed at one time or another to help the elf out if he’s fallen from his post.
It’s not fancy. It’s not branded. But it’s ours—and it’s been part of how Christmas shows up in our house for a long time now.
So tell me:
Do you do Elf on the Shelf… or your own version of it?
And what’s a Christmas tradition you didn’t grow up with but adopted later?
Ramblings from That Guy 