Elf on the Shelf

 

We have done this tradition for at least three years in our house – maybe more? Basically when it hit the shelves, it hit our house. My kids have latched on to our elf Mina in ways I never expected. One of the worst punishments ever is having to go tell Mina what you did, because just maybe she might pass the information onto Santa who could lower their ranking from good list to bad list.

 

Our Elf has morphed as our kids have grown – from simply moving around the house and the kids had to find him/her (we haven’t assigned a gender to Mina) to this year being a bit more of a prankster towards Leif and into dressing up – like Skadi. We don’t bend over backwards… some nights the elf is lucky to change shelves and some days she packs the kids’ lunches (soy sauce, mushrooms, nasty stuff they will never eat) or makes breakfast (a bowl of candy for each kid – which, no, they don’t get to eat). Or sets up a science experiment from the kids' science kits.

 

There is a ton of bashing out there of the Elf on the Shelf tradition and I routinely see citations from friends on Facebook that he is “creepy”. There are two divided camps – the people who have one and whose kids love it and those who proclaim it “creepy”.

 

Every time I see someone proclaim it “creepy” I want to post back, “so what is your opinion on Toy Story?” Are Woody and Buzz and their friends creepy because they come to life and play around the house and get into mischief? $1.9 BILLION in gross revenue surmises a guess that those of the “creepy” camp bought into a little bit of the Toy Story mania that started in 1995. The difference here? Adults actually playing it out and a story that the Elf reports transgressions to Santa? Is that what makes it creepy? Really, I just don’t get those statements. But whatever.

 

This year Leif told me that he thinks that the elf is actually just a stuffed animal that parents move around. My response to him was, “but isn’t it more fun to play along and believe?” He nodded and I haven’t heard another word out of him. I expect that when baby #3 is to the age in a couple years of engaging with Mina (3.5 or so?) that I will no longer have to set my phone alarm with a reminder and that Leif at least will embrace the tradition and will relish in coming up with hiding places and pranks.

 

Skadi is full on into the Elf tradition this year. I have leveraged this to my advantage – she must get dressed before finding the elf. Because, well, we wouldn’t want Mina to see her nakey. So every morning she whips out of bed (sort of) and pulls off her pj’s, finds clothes and goes racing around the house. Then screams an announcement of where Mina is and giggles about what mischief he/she is up to now. The other night, Mina made it to the top of the tree somehow and is hugging our angel. A few days ago Mina graffiti’d Skadi’s gingerbread house a bit with frosting by writing her name and the word “YUM” on the lawn. Hilarious laughter. Leif’s favorite was when we hadn’t yet decorated our tree and Mina decided to help us along – by decorating it with Leif’s underwear. And occasionally there are notes – but not too often because it is really hard to disguise my handwriting and the kids are getting wise to that. Laughter and frivolity from my kids – not creepy.

 

Honestly, whether or not another family embraces or rejects the Elf has no bearing on my family. We love it, we go with it and have fun. I might leverage it to my advantage in certain cases and maybe that makes my holiday season a touch easier at times (like I don’t have to tell my daughter umpteen times to get out of bed and get dressed) and there are certainly people out there who think that is wrong – just as there are people out there who think that driving an SUV is wrong, or putting my kids in daycare is wrong. Get over it. It works for us.

 

Remembering back to rabbit's feet

Do you remember when they were somewhat popular? Rabbit's feet? Colored in wacky colors?

When I was in elementary school they held a Christmas shop in the library where kids could go and buy their little goodies on their own. Rabbit's feet were all the rage.

And that year my parents each were lucky enough to get one each from me.

I think back to the rabbit's feet when I look at the presents my kids got me and I am very thankful that they aren't all the rage anymore.

Actually, they are pretty gross... and I remember that my dog ate more than one...

AB and I have a routine whereby we take the kids shopping and let them pick out whatever they want (within reason) to each of us. And the kids love having picked out and wrapped their own gifts.

Skadi is a good little shopper. But she goes into a store with no preconceived notion about what she is buying for anyone. She likes to browse. She found a nice big brown fuzzy blanket for AB and also a Muppet's t-shirt. Slippers and socks for Aunt Tara.

Leif on the other hand, knows exactly what he wants to get someone and goes in headstrong and unwilling to waver! He insisted on an Angry Birds shirt for AB and also a scarf.

We went to about four different stores in search of the right scarf. So many were "too girly for daddy". But he finally found a green and grey thick wool scarf that by the time we found it I was willing to pay a little more lest we have to go to anymore stores.

For me?

I was the lucky recipient of two tubes of sparkley red and pink lip gloss AND a bottle of green sparkle body mist in case I decide to try out for Elphaba I suppose. I am sure you can guess who gave those to me.

From Leif, I got a crystal duck and a crystal pillar that says "Mom, I love you" and has its own rotating and colored lights base reminiscent of a small disco ball.

AB had a bit of a hard time keeping a straight face as I opened it and Leif looked on beaming with a huge smile.

I asked Leif how he came up with those ideas and he told me that he remembered back to when he got me a bead for my bracelet and how much I liked it and he KNEW that I would love to have a glass duck because of that. Okaaayyyy...

Later on AB told me that he was perplexed when Leif announced that he had to get me a glass duck for Christmas. Maybe I had it easy searching the stores for the "right" scarf? Then he asked me what I thought of the crystal pillar?

"I love it because Leif loves it and it is important to him," I told him.

And secretly I was thinking "AND because it isn't a rabbit's foot!"

Merry Christmas!

We had a quiet Christmas. It is the first Christmas in years that we have not travelled. I used to get a bit bent out of shape about always traveling for the holidays. Annoyed that no one would come to us for holidays. Now the fact that we are home is a bit bittersweet. In one instance I am relishing being in our own home for the holidays, while the next instant that fact is soured because the reason we are not traveling is that my mom is no longer with us. It hasn't been easy.

Little events have brought loads of memories. I normally do Christmas cookies early so that we can enjoy them through the season. Doing cookies this year was a bit tough and I procrastinated them until just a few days before Christmas. Memories of Christmas both as a child, as a teenager and adult flood through of doing cookies with my mom.

When I was a child my mom would cut them and bake them - making sure to never put different shapes on the same cookie sheet when baking so that they would all cook evenly. I thought she was horribly boring that way. Guess how I do them now? Yes, the exact same way.

Memories of "retarded" angels. No, I don't really mean to be anti-PC here - but back in 1980, "retarded" wasn't a horrible thing to say. When I was a kid we would always try and put faces on our angel cookies. My mom would laugh and tell us that was definitely a "retarded" angel.

As a high schooler, my mom would try to cut corners and change up the labor intensive cookie recipe that was my great grandmother's. It wouldn't take so long if we did this other recipe she would tell us. And my sister and I would roll our eyes. Because they never TASTED as good.

And as an adult my mom would wait to do cookies until we arrived in town and then we would go down to my sister's house and decorate them with her kids and occasionally my aunt and cousins would come down too.

Our Christmas Eve tradition was always to eat seafood and open one gift. Those lean years where we didn't have much, we would still have snow crab legs and my sister and I thought we were the luckiest kids alive. I made a friend's boulliabaisse recipe this year and it turned out fabulous and we were lucky enough to have king crab shipped directly from Alaska to put in it.

My kids had their one gift to open on Christmas eve which surprisingly turned out to be pajamas! (Do you know how hard it is to find Christmas - not winter - themed pajamas for boys in size 7??) Skadi cracked us all up when she opened hers, jumped around the room with a huge grin squealing, "It is EXACTLY what I always wanted!"

I may be deluding myself, or maybe it is what I need to believe to make things easier, but I believe that this was the first year that my mom was in our house with us on Christmas. I felt as though she was here watching all these traditions and partaking with us.

Tender sweetness of a seasick crocodile...

Last year I delved into Christmas music – what does it for me (John Denver) and what does not (Band-Aid). After ranting to one of my high school turned Facebook friends about Christmas music I thought of another bitty pet peeve of mine.

Certain Christmas shows.

I like the vast majority of Christmas TV including all the classics and even a few of the new ones - Like "Shrek the Halls". “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” and “The Polar Express” tops my list simply because of the message.

Believe.

I can quote The Grinch like no one’s business, but my favorite line is:

“It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages, boxes, or bags!”

And I love to shop. I even love to Christmas shop.

But despite someone else’s meanness, the spirit of Christmas remains and will always be strong and present. It’s a notion that I WILL instill in my kids. My kids WILL be 80 years old and still hear the bell ring and not because they are getting senile.

We are Christians and so the core meaning of Christmas to us, is that Jesus was born. And despite the above two movies not being religious centric, it delves at what it means to anyone to hold your beliefs. No one can take them from you and furthermore that the spirit of Christmas resides within us.

My pride swelled the other night after reading "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" to Leif and he said (without prompting) - "it means that Christmas will always come no metter what".

And it is nothing anyone can ever take from you sweet boy.

Now let’s venture over to the dark side.

The shows my children will not be watching:

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Christmas episode anyone? Or frankly how about any of those kid shows where the kids have to rescue Santa for Christmas to happen. I am fine with all the Dora, Diego, Little Einsteins, etc., shows that on every other day of the year they have missions and puzzles to do to make something happen. Fine. But don’t tread on Christmas. Don’t even IMPLY that Christmas may not come if Santa isn’t rescued. Don’t tell my kids that they have to chose which tool to use to rescue Santa and if it is wrong the entire world will suffer a fate of no Christmas. Or at least don’t do this if you expect me to let my kids watch.

Ok, so as an adult I am taking it to an extreme and embellishing just a little.

You get it, this is what yanks my chain and you have seen the many numbers of exhibits of this on TV.

My kids WILL look back when they are 80 and remember that their mom believed in Santa as the spirit of giving and generosity and they will understand this if I have to pound it into them. Their stockings will always be filled – just like my stockings have always been filled.

“Welcome Christmas while we stand, heart to heart and hand in hand.”

Believe

Earlier in the year Leif came home from school with a question in mind… is Santa real?

Or he phrased it more like, “Isaac said that Santa is just your parents dressed up. Is that true mommy?”

Easy and very truthful response.

“No, neither mommy or daddy dress up like Santa. Aren’t we the ones that take you to see Santa at the mall? How could we dress up and be next to you?”

Ok, so maybe I took his question too literal. So I backpedaled a little.

“Not everyone believes in Santa Claus, but I do and I hope you do too. I truly believe that Santa is the spirit of giving,” I went on honestly.

Leif assured me that he believed in Santa and I dropped it there after half pondering talking to the kids’ teacher (Isaac is an older child in the class) and considering speaking to Isaac’s dad at work just to give him a heads up that his son is spreading fibs – I also pondered keeping Leif in a bubble, but that isn’t terribly feasible and I am sure CPS would be onto me quickly.

The other day after seeing Santa at school Leif came home and had this to say:

“It wasn’t a normal Santa though, something weird was his beard and it wasn’t real hair,” he said.

“What do you think about that?” I asked him probing gently.

“I think it was just someone dressed up to be like Santa,” he said. “And you know what? All the kids in line in front of me asked for pencils, but I asked for the Batman Wii game!”

“Why did all your friends ask for pencils?” I asked him perplexed.

“Well they must have asked for pencils, because it’s what they got,” he said.

“Did Santa give you a Batman Wii game?” I asked.

“No, he just gave me a pencil too,” Leif said.

We went to the mall the other day for a quick trip and noted that there was no line for Santa… and the kids actually looked alright! No huge obvious stains. Leif wasn’t in Christmas themed clothes, but he looked nice enough. Skadi had her Christmas dress on (like she does many days lately), though she had navy blue tights with flowers on – so did not match the Christmas dress – but she had her boots on, so it wasn’t horrid. We jumped quick into the very short line.

As we stood there a grin grew on Leif’s face.

“Mommy, look!” he said. “It’s the NORMAL Santa!”

And both kids beamed after hanging with Santa for a few. He was a good Santa too – more friendly than the prior year’s grump. And he did look, “normal”.

I guess I have a few years left while his measure of the real Santa resides in whether or not there is a fake or real beard.

New skis?

There is a suspicious gift under our tree - or actually leaning on the wall next to the tree. Leif and I wrapped it today. I didn't open it for him to see what was actually in there out of fear he would divulge this most fascinating gift to AB. So I knew he couldn't spill the beans.

AB was examining the gift this evening and I suggested he ask Leif what's in the package.

"Skis!" Leif exclaimed!

Much to AB's disappointment... no he isn't getting new skis for Christmas!

Silent Night

Well we are working on it...

I live Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

It is a given that when we get into the car, Leif asks for Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. This has gone on for a few weeks now since he knows every.single.word for it. Except of course for the names of the reindeer. His version goes something likes this:

"You know Dancer and Dancer and Dancer and Vixen, Comet and Stupid and Donner and Blitzen". And if you sing it, you better hit Donner, because 9 times out of 10 - even if you did get Donner, he's going to tell you that you didn't.

John Denver sings Rudolph on the Rocky Mountain Christmas cd in my car. So instead of getting to listen to "Aspenglow" or "Christmas for Cowboys", it is Rudolph... over and over again. (Leif did tell me he also liked "Please Daddy Don't Get Drunk This Christmas" the other day, but I didn't tell AB this.)

I know. I could say no. And ensue the whining. But truth be told it is easier to hit the back button repeatedly and endure.

Leif seems to not have a problem listening to a song over and over and over and over again. He might get this from me. And like it drives Skadi up the wall and she starts whining when she has had enough Rudolph, AB tends to start whining when I play songs over and over and over and over again.

There's only one other person I know who has a tolerance for this... and I discovered it during The Vandals stage of my teenage years (wow they look old now)... when we successfully drove her boyfriend literally up the wall in a little blue VW Rabbit.

A caroling we will go

Every year the primary classes from Leif's school go around to a few of the buildings near their school and they carol. The parents tag along and crowd in for pictures.

Up until this year I have never had an idea of what songs Leif is learning at school until I actually get there. Skadi is a little more transparent and tends to completely freak out waving her hands wildly when "Jingle Bells" comes on.

I knew that Leif was learning "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" since the other day he told me he needed help to learn the song. So we have been singing it and reciting the reindeer names.

Tonight on the way home I asked him what other songs he is learning. He immediately launched into "Must be Santa".

You know, "Who's got a beard that's long and white? Santa's got a beard that's long and white!"

My favorite line though was, "Who wears a suit of bread? Santa wears a suit made of bread!"

"I want a pony."

We were driving home from the airport and had a conversation that went something like this:

Leif: "I want a fruit roll up."

NM: "We don't have a fruit roll up, wait till we get home, we will be there in minutes."

Leif: "I want a fruit roll up."

NM: "No Leif."

Leif: "I want a fruit roll up."

AB: "Yeah, well I want a pony." (Typical response.)

Leif: "You can't have a pony, nobody can."

NM: "Just like no one can have a fruit roll up right now."

Leif: "But Daddy wants a pony."

AB: "Yeah, so are you going to get me one for Christmas?"

Leif: "No, I already got you a big cup and painted it yellow."

Sigh.

I thought that once we made it past that 48 hours point, we were golden. But I guess I should be amazed that he kept the secret for two and a half weeks! I had figured he had forgotten about it.

Little boy obsessed

After getting the mail most evenings Leif is eager to pilfer the toy catalogs. He has a need to find something on every single page that he wants. He brings the catalog to me, points the item out, explains the virtues of this toy and then returns to browse the next page. All the while I nod my head, tell him to ask Santa and wonder in my head if he would actually play with it. For the most part, Leif isn't a big "toy" kid.

The other night Leif found the Lego catalog in the stack of mail and after a few minutes came back to me declaring, "I want everything in this catalog".

I reminded thim that was NOT happening, but he should look through it and figure out what he would like since unbeknownst to him, Legos are on the list from Mommy and Daddy this year.

He came back mesmerized by the Coast Guard Platform.

I agreed with him that was awfully neat.

Leif then spent much of Tuesday evening looking at that page in the Lego catalog. All through "dessert" (which was yogurt) he talked up the virtues of this set.

"And it has a helicopter, and a man, and you can lift your mans out of the water, and I think you can lift your boats out too!" The talk went on and on.

AB eyed it and agreed we had probably found the Lego set for Christmas and on Wednesday morning I found it online (available ONLY at the Lego store - no deals to be had on this baby thanks to its "Limited Availability") and ordered it.

I also tossed in the 4WD and jetski for good measure since Leif has loved jetskis the two times he has had occasion to ride them with AB.

Last night he confirmed my notion that this was a good choice when he spent the second night at dessert (once again yogurt) oogling over the same page in the catalog. He finished and with catalog in hand said, "I am going to go lay in bed and look at this for awhile". I steered him to the bathroom for tooth brushing.

While brushing his teeth he asked me how he could be sure Santa brought him that set? I reminded him all he could do was ask, there are no guarantees.

AB put him to bed and instead of selecting books to read, Leif brought the catalog to bed to "read".

I can't wait till Christmas morning and he opens this. I remember being about this age (just barely) and opening up my Lincoln Logs on Christmas morning. I was so excited and immediately sat down to build cabins. My mom recently sent my Lincoln Logs (and all the extra goodies that had migrated into the box 30 years ago - talk about a trip down memory lane). I still remember that Christmas morning like it was yesterday.

What gifts stand out in your mind?