Hi friends! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! 3 of the 4 of us, myself included in that group, have been sick, hence the lack of posting from yours truly. The kids are all better and I'm finally feeling a little better myself (4 boxes of tissues later) so I decided to sit down, upload my Christmas pictures and get to posting.
As you know, we love our elf on the shelf, Buddy. I've posted about how he arrived and 35 fun things to do with him.
This year presented a unique problem. See, I have heard all of the critics bashing the elf on the shelf. I get what they are saying, I just happen to disagree. We all have different opinions - that's what makes the world a unique and fun place! In my humble opinion, Buddy is just pure fun. It's something my kids will look back on and remember from their childhood as a fun/cool/neat/funny at times experience. It's a memory maker. My kids know the reason behind Christmas is 100% Jesus...if you ask Brayden why we celebrate he is the first to tell you, "it's Jesus's birthday!"
So back to what I was saying...what's the problem? Well, like I said, I want this to be fun. The kids love Buddy. The issue is the whole "you can't touch him" thing. That is SO hard for a toddler! I decided, being the rebel, rule-breaking mom that I am, to break the cardinal rule of the Elf on the Shelf.
That's right. I let my kids hold Buddy. Kiss him. Hug him. Cuddle him.
There's a catch of course. Here's what I did...
I - I mean, Buddy - wrote a letter to the kids. He told them how much he loves them and how much he appreciated them being good boys this year. He talked about the true meaning of Christmas, and why we celebrate the birth of Christ. And then, at the very end, he mentioned that on Christmas Eve, the last night he would be at our house until next year, that Santa will lift his magic for a few minutes before bedtime. During that time, they would get to snuggle with him so long as they put him right back where they found him when that time period was over.
Here's Buddy with the letter:
I think this picture sums it up. This is why we love our Buddy:
My sweet boys were so, so happy. Several days later, they are still talking about it!
This post isn't to debate the whole Elf thing...I'm a firm believer in doing what's best for your family in all situations...I don't care what kind of diapers you use, how you feed your kids, if you do 3 presents or a whole truckload...as long as it's right for your family, more power to you! For us, doing the EotS is just pure fun. It brings my kids such joy! If it's something your family does, then think about this fun little goodbye for next year!
