Fayette-Mom: My love affair with Elf on the Shelf

I’m thinking whoever came up with Elf on the Shelf should probably just rule the world.

In case you’re not familiar, Elf on the Shelf is a little elf doll that visits your house every year when the Christmas decorations go up. He places himself high on a perch in your home so that he can observe how the children are behaving. Each night, he flies back to the North Pole to report to Santa on how the kids are doing. Every morning, children scramble to find the new place the Elf has placed himself in the house.

See? Genius.

My kids are mesmerized. We got ours last year, and it made such an impression, both Emma and Eli were asking about our elf’s return way before Thanksgiving. Now that Elfis is back (yes, that is the name they chose!), all they have to be given is a little reminder that he is watching, and you should see how they straighten up their behavior. Getting them up for school in the morning is no problem, since they can’t wait to see where Elfis is hanging out. And they love writing him notes, asking him questions about his life back at the North Pole.

These are the kinds of ideas that drive you crazy, with you thinking “Why didn’t I think of that???”

Kudos to the person who did think of it because man, has it made my holidays with kids a lot more manageable!