That Damn Elf

My sweet little grandmother thought I had a little too much time on my hands so she sent my children The Elf on the Shelf. And oh how it has changed our lives.

Shall we review the two tenants of mythical thinking that most parents toss about before The Elf is actually in play at their house?

1) Under the watchful eye of The Elf my children will be absolute angels.
2) It will be so fun to find The Elf every morning.

That Elf, he is a mischievous fellow. Last year my children shook him out of the Christmas tree or something. He ended up in the Elf Infirmary for a better part of December. That was heavenly.

This year my boys have been surprisingly controlled in their interaction with Elf. They have not touched him, not even once -- or so I am told. But under the close observation of Elf they have managed to cut a hole in the sofa with a pocket knife, search for and find Christmas presents, urinate all over their bathroom, forget their backpacks, skip homework, be woefully late for school, stay up hours past their bedtimes, and open all the doors on their LEGO advent calendar in one night (in fact, the first night). See myth no. 1.

You know the mystery of Elf? The mystery of him being in a new place every morning? If for some reason someone in your house falls asleep before the magic happens, you will have really freaked out kids at breakfast. Really.

Enter the joy of Pinterest. I have found so many Elf ideas on that site. Thank goodness. This morning, I cooly asked Mason to get the syrup for pancakes. Guess what he found!?!??!?!