\u201cI\u2019m never allowing an elf on my shelf – or anywhere else in my house for that matter,\u201d I proclaimed at my firstborn\u2019s baby shower. I was a new mom and full of ideals, philosophies, and many other \u201cI\u2019ll never\u201d statements. I hadn\u2019t read the popular book, and I really didn\u2019t want to read it. I didn\u2019t like the idea of having something else to monitor during a season that is already so hectic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For about eight years, things went as I planned. We enjoyed Christmas with our son, Evan, and eventually with our daughter, Delaney. We wrote letters to Santa, visited him at the mall, and enjoyed Santa-themed pancake breakfasts. None of us mentioned the elf, and we still didn\u2019t have one in the house. I laughed at images my friends posted on social media of their elves getting into mischief and making whipped cream and sprinkle messes on kitchen countertops. It still wasn\u2019t enough to make me want one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kids have a way of learning about things, though. Elf stories circulated around my kids\u2019 elementary school and at dance class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhy don\u2019t we have an elf?\u201d my children asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t need one,\u201d I said. \u201cWe know that Santa is watching your behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, my friends have an elf,\u201d Evan said. \u201cHe does fun things around the house and leaves notes for them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYeah! And he moves to a different spot every day!\u201d Delaney echoed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I didn\u2019t budge, and we enjoyed another \u201celfless\u201d Christmas season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two years ago, we went shopping a couple of days after Christmas. I wanted to buy some discounted wrapping paper, bows, and decorations. My children were enjoying rummaging through a holiday toy bin. They resurfaced with several small, plushy creatures including a fox, a reindeer, and an elf. I didn\u2019t think much about it at the time. My arms were full of gift wrap; I was distracted, and I had no rebuttal for my kids\u2019 best argument: \u201cEverything is seventy-five percent off!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They got me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the way home, they chatted incessantly about their new friends and how excited they were to finally have an elf. I cut my eyes at Evan in the rearview mirror. He saw me and quickly said, \u201cDon\u2019t worry, Mom. I\u2019ve got this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For almost a year, the elf and his cohorts hid out in Evan\u2019s room. When the following Christmas season came around, Evan stayed up a little later than his sister each night to help the elves find a new spot around the house. He helped them hide behind canned food in the pantry, set up a carnival on the living room floor, and write notes about being good and eating vegetables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Delaney was in love with the elf. She couldn\u2019t wait to get up each morning to find out where he was and what kind of message he had left for her. In fact, she got up so early some mornings that I had to tell her to go back to bed – even the elves were still asleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One morning I was exceptionally grumpy when Delaney came into my room at five a.m. and stood by my bed, waiting for me to notice her arrival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMom, can I go check on my elf?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo!\u201d I shouted. \u201cGo back to bed. And if you wake me up again, the elf is leaving for good!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Delaney returned to her room without much complaining, but a few minutes later I heard Evan quietly crying in his room. I got up to check on him and asked him what was wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m just sad about the elf,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m really having fun surprising Delaney each day. I don\u2019t want him to go away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I told him I understood, and I promised not to ban the elf. While I didn\u2019t exactly appreciate being woken up at five in the morning, it was a small price to pay for the joy that my children were experiencing. Delaney loved the excitement of finding her elf each morning, and Evan loved creating that magic for his sister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I still haven\u2019t read the popular book, but I have accepted the elf as part of our Christmas tradition. I\u2019ve also allowed a few other items into our home that I said I never would, years ago, before I was a mom, and before I really understood the wonder of creating magic for little ones.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cI\u2019m never allowing an elf on my shelf – or anywhere else in my house for that matter,\u201d I proclaimed at my firstborn\u2019s baby shower. I was a new mom […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_gspb_post_css":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","footnotes":""},"essay_type":[46],"essay-category":[],"class_list":["post-20011","essay","type-essay","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","essay_type-features"],"blocksy_meta":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/essay\/20011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/essay"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/essay"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/essay\/20011\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"essay_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/essay_type?post=20011"},{"taxonomy":"essay-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/essay-category?post=20011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}