Rebecca Benson is a League City stay at home mom who has lived here since 2003 when her husband took a job on the International Space Station program. She followed soon after working on the same program for nearly six years when she started staying home with the kids. Rebecca loves to craft, scrapbook, sew, and embrace motherhood. Rebecca has a blog called Mommiedom ((http://queenmommiedom.blogspot.com/) where she talks about all the things in her life not just those “coSo it is already November which means that the Elf on the Shelf is going to be here by the end of the month. My kids have already been talking about their Elf for weeks or months, okay lets be honest the entire year they have talked about his return pretty much the moment he left last December 24th.
My seven year old randomly and out of the blue would tell me how much she missed Herman (the Elf) and can't wait till he returns. At first I would remember the Elf's name when she would bring it up, but the last few times, I would ask who and she would look annoyed and say her elf. I had filed her as a mother!
So last year, I had a feeling she was going to ask if an Elf was going to come to her house. I had planned on it and when I was at the Nutcracker Market, picked up the cutest Elf and tucked him away. So one day she comes rushing home from school and tells me that everyone's Elf had come right after Thanksgiving so she needed to write a note asking Santa to send her an Elf.
So she sat there and wrote the sweetest letter. She made sure to do all the things the other kids told her needed to be done in order for him to come. Thank goodness I had the Elf tucked away upstairs so, that night after she went to bed, I dug around the closet to find him and set him out.
The kids were bouncing off the walls the next morning after his arrival. That Elf went every where with her the whole month of December. I can't say how many times he was a “stow away” in her backpack. At first I loved the Elf and enjoyed sticking him all sorts of places and than like two days went by and I forgot for the first time. Yes I shot out of bed in a panic to move him around.
Than the resentment came that I think EVERY SINGLE PARENT has once you realize that you have to be creative for like 28 days. I would worry about where and what he was going to do each night. Some nights my wonderful husband would rescue me and stick hime somewhere. Now I was counting the moments to his return to the North Pole.
I was so relieved when I was able to tuck him away on December 24. He has spent the year buried in my underwear drawer. I wanted to make sure I stuck him someplace the kids wouldn't go- yeah like they would fold laundry and put it away. So I figured he was safe there. Every once in awhile things get shifted around and his head pops out. That big stupid grin he has, I am sure is from the joys of swimming in undies!
Than the kids started about how they so hoped a second Elf would come for little brother so that Herman didn't have to be shared. Two they wanted two now. So now I was screwed because of course I am that Mom who will make it happen. I happen to walk by a small one at Hobby Lobby last week and had the insight to pick it up plus it was like fifty percent off. I am glad I did because they were already picked over.
So now I have two Elves to move every night so it looks like they are reporting back to Santa. I also have to come up with a back story for the new one which includes a name. Than I read that the Elf is now coming for birthdays. I have many words that I would like to use in that regard but I will keep it clean. The Elf will not becoming for Birthdays.
To be honest I had high hopes for the Elf last year and even thought that he might make a mid year visit but than I realized I can't set the bar to high for my kids. I need to make sure they have expectations that the Elf might not move in the night because he really likes that spot.
So now I need to actually put some thought into the Elves when they come. Maybe I can plan his movements- heck what am I thinking. This is how it will play out, I will be good for a few days and make sure he gets moved and than he will get stuck in one or two places for the remainder of the holiday season. It might just be easier to tell them the about the “real” magic of Christmas- oh who I am kidding, I will make it magical and special all while slowly losing my hair to the holiday stress!
