Being a teacher, I've known about the whole "Elf on the Shelf" phenomenon for a few years now. If you don't know what I'm talking about, go here: www.elfontheshelf.com. It is crazy! About half of my students have an elf in their home, and Lucy's school classroom has one too. Well, I figured she was too small for one this year, but a LOT of people were trying to change my mind. I'm not one that is easily swayed, but having a two-year-old that needs some positive reinforcement in her world sometimes, I figured we'd give this whole elf thing a go.
Seeing as how life has been a bit nutty lately, I'm sure you're not surprised at me being a day late and a dollar short on this one. You see, we're only 15 days from Christmas (and you're supposed to get your elf out more towards Thanksgiving I guess) and all the stores in town had the stupid things on backorder. THANKFULLY, my mother saved the day (not the first time she's done that lately) and found ONE at a locally owned toy store here in town. Praise the Lord! My kid didn't actually know she was missing out on this, but she was!!!
So I bought our family elf! It was a boy (didn't realize they came as girls-hmmm, maybe a twin for next year???) and he came in a great box kit with a delightful little picture book all about how to care for him. This idea is so stinking cute, and let me tell you, that woman who created it is probably a ZILLIONAIRE by now. WHY THE HECK DID I NOT THINK OF THAT?!?!? Once again, my dreams of being a zillionaire myself are crushed.
Anyway, I got the elf. Now, how to introduce him... A few days ago Lu got a silly band at school. I know I know, they're not for kids under three, but I am pretty sure that she won't strangle herself with one. She's pretty smart. Anyway, it broke and she was DEVASTATED. I am telling you there were MANY HUGE tears and screaming and flailing. It was not pretty. I told her that maybe if she was good and she asked Santa, he might be able to help her out. So she got herself all out of the tizzy she was in and we shouted out a message to old Saint Nick. So I figured when I picked her up yesterday, the elf could be sitting in the car with a package of silly bands waiting for her. GENIUS! She totally freaked out and was THRILLED with the whole deal.
When her dad got home, we read the book as a family and had to name this elf we were now in charge of. Now, I love Italian food, and Lucy does too. When I was pregnant, I sort of was obsessed with the name Giuseppe (if it were to be a boy)-pronounced JA-SEP-PEE for all you non-cultured readers. Bryan did not go for it ONE PERCENT, and I can't really blame him, as it doesn't flow too well with our last name. But again with the loopholes, I figured this elf might be my chance for a Giuseppe!!! Now, don't get me wrong, I threw out other ideas-Einstein, Edison, AND Giuseppe. Which one did she choose (TOTALLY ON HER OWN!)? GIUSEPPE!!!! I have never been more proud!
Now, the idea of this elf is that he (or she) goes back to the North Pole each night (using his or her flying magic) to report to Santa about a child's behavior. He reappears in the morning, but is usually in someplace crazy or up to some kind of mischief. This is all well and good, but creates homework for the parents each night. "What kind of crazy thing can we do with the elf?" is probably being asked millions of times over all around the world (thus making that woman a ZILLIONAIRE!). So last night, after Lucy had been quite good, we said goodnight to Big G and put her to bed. Now, the book states that the kids can't touch the elf or he'll lose his (oops, or her) magic. Thank goodness for this rule because my child would ABSOLUTELY want to sleep with this guy. (She currently sleeps with 5 rather large animals/dolls.) Anyway, great rule, thanks zillionaire woman for thinking that one up.
So last night, Bryan was working on his portfolio for school, and I was wondering what I could do with G. I had a thought and this was it:
Pretty clever and cute, right? Well, after I had that thought, took the picture and headed back upstairs, I pretty much had a small anxiety attack over the mess I had left in my kitchen. I mean, is it good for your countertops to have flour on them all night? Can that seep into them and ruin them? How was I going to clean this in the morning? If you know me, you know the list of irrational worry continued until I had to just clean it up and think of something less chaotic:
My poor child never even saw the mess on the counter. Probably for the best, as I'd hate to give her any ideas... So tonight the journey with G continues. I did print out a list of 101 things to do with your elf. Thank goodness I'm not the one blazing new ground with this little guy. More posts with pictures of our holiday adventures will follow this one I am sure.
As for other things...Bryan will have his exit interview with LMU on MONDAY-WAHOO!!!! He has applied to all the big school systems around, so now we wait. If only I'd invented that stupid elf we could be zillionaires living in the Caribbean! Oh well.
It snowed! It was just for a few minutes this past week, but it snowed! Lucy and I dashed out the front door and played in it. She was quite thrilled to be playing in the first flurries of the season.
She also had a blast with my mom last weekend making her first gingerbread house. It is a real nice piece of work. Nothing compared to the gingerbread house duplex my friend Kendra and I once built, but hey! She's only two. I'll give her time and she'll be giving Frank Lloyd Wright a run for his money (and yes I realize he's dead, but he's the only famous architect I can think of right now).
Other than this being the hardest 3 weeks of the year to be a teacher, we're surviving things ok. Many nights you can hear us belting Christmas songs at the top of our lungs, we're enjoying the decorations being up, and can't wait to see the look on Lucy's face when she sees all that Santa has for her on Christmas morning.
Merry ALMOST Christmas!
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