Elf on the Shelf

For those who are not familiar with the Elf on the Shelf, it is a little elf that arrives at your home before Christmas. The Elf on the Shelf comes with a book. The book walks you through all of the rules. You can't touch the elf. You can talk to him, but he won't talk back. He sits quietly and watches your behavior throughout the day. When you go to bed at night, he travels to the North Pole to share how good (or bad) you have been with Santa. When he comes back home, he finds a new place to sit and it is always an adventure to find where he decided to land.

Once you adopt your elf, you are given the opportunity to name your elf. I was thinking something a little unusual. Something elfie. Wyatt, however, was thinking....Eric! He named our elf Eric.


This year, having Eric at our house was truly fun. He helped Wyatt to make better choices (I witnessed Wyatt correcting his behavior as he glanced at Eric out of the corner of his eye) and he brought Wyatt to tears when he wanted to shove Lauren but couldn't because Eric was in the room. It was okay that I was in there. He could live with time out or a reminder about making better decisions. He could not, however, risk Eric telling Santa that Wyatt was on the naughty list that day.

Having Eric at our house brought lots of laughter (for the adults that is). One day Wyatt had friends over and the little girl came running to me because Wyatt had said a bad word. I've never heard Wyatt say a "bad" word so I am sure it was something like bu*% or stup&^^%. In our house, those words are also considered bad and are not used although they have slipped out a few times. When I asked what word he said, she froze in her tracks. Her response, "Ms. Michelle. I can't tell you. Your elf can hear me."

Lauren obviously didn't get the concept. One of the rules is that you can not touch Eric. Well, Lauren didn't understand that rule. She often pretends to be a puppy (I'll save that story for another post), and decided to use Eric as her fetch toy. Thankfully, I saved Eric and returned him to his correct spot before Wyatt noticed.