Elf on the Shelf

Last year for Kanin's 5th birthday, Debbie got Kanin The Elf on the Shelf book for his birthday. I had never heard of it and didn't really know if he would enjoy it or not but thought we would give it a chance. The premise of the book is that there is this elf that lives with Santa Claus all year long and on Thanksgiving night he comes to your house (or anytime that you buy the book) and from that time until Christmas morning whenever the family goes to bed, the elf flies back to the North Pole and tells Santa if the kids have been naughty or nice. He also reports on what the kids might like for Christmas. Every morning when he returns, he lands in a different spot.

The first time that you read the book you are supposed to name your elf. Ours is named Chuckie. I have to tell you that if you do not have The Elf on the Shelf and you have small kids, you have to get it! It is so much fun. Every morning the first thing that Kanin and Gracie do is search through the house and look for Chuckie. It is such an adventure for them. When we leave the house, they both tell him good-bye and sometimes I will walk in and Kanin is talking to him. It is so precious. Even after Chuckie leaves on Christmas morning, Kanin asks about him all through the year.

It makes me kind of sad that there is probably only a few more years where Kanin will relish in the magic of an elf but I hope that it will become a memory that he loves and, hopefully, he will do it with his kids someday, too. I also hope that he doesn't ruin it for Gracie and Caleb-LOL.