Sunday, November 25, 2012

The Elf on the Shelf

Y'all.

This year I bought an Elf and got the book all ready to read tonight at bedtime. When are you supposed to start setting up scenarios for the elf around the house? Anyway. Not my point.

Tonight after we brushed teeth, combed hair, and found blankies I told the kids there was a special treat for them in the girls room.

Off they went and then I heard Joy say, "Mommy it's a little boy!" I walked in to find them all crouched around the Elf and the accompanying book. I opened the book and started reading. They stopped me after each page and asked questions. "How does he talk to Santa? Do his eyes move? Does he talk?" It went on every time I turned the page. I finished the story and asked them what they thought we should name our elf. All very normal, right?

Well.

Joy started crying first. Then Ty. Then Charlie. Suddenly no one could even talk because of all the crying. Am I missing something? I thought about what they could possibly be crying about and finally Charlie said...

"We don't want the elf to be alive Mommy he might scare us!" Ty started in about how much he didn't even like the elf because "WHAT IF THE ELF GETS ALIVE WHILE I SLEEP AND GOES IN MY ROOM THEN I'D BE SCARED FOREVER MOMMY."

Something is wrong with my parenting y'all. I've never heard of kids being anti-Elf on the shelf. I mean where have I gone wrong?

I finally got them to calm down when I promised them I'd call Santa and ask him to make sure we got a toy elf, not a magic one. Even after this promise they prayed during their bedtime prayers that God would keep them safe from the elf.

I'm not kidding. Good night.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh Mary- you are not alone! My kids are still freaked out by the idea of Santa in a major way. Tatum says she doesn't want him to come at all. Trevor then tries to reassure her that he'll be gone by the time they wake up and they'll never see him and it will be okay. I can only imagine how they'd respond to the elf!

I remember Trevor also stopped sleeping for several nights after watching Toy Story. He was sure his toys would all come alive when he wasn't looking.

I'm truly grateful they aren't scared of Jesus!

Mary said...

YES!!!

Emmy said...

Ethan and I have laughed and laughed. I snorted my drink out.
But you know, I remember NOT wanting to see Santa or the Tooth Fairy at all. I think the kids are smart to be wary of a magical critter hanging around their house.

Lindsay Wagner said...

I have to be honest and tell you I just started laughing out loud! ;). I've reconsidered getting an Elf, but you just confirmed for me that my girls are NOT ready!!! ;). Sweet kiddos! Hopefully Jesus will hear your prayers and make sure that you have a toy elf! ;). I'm still laughing.......

Nori-Lyn Alford said...

You are not alone! I heard so many stories of kids with similar reactions, that we decided last year that it would be a no-go!

Carley said...

I am just now catching up on blogs for the week. That is hilarious and made me laugh out loud. However, I can see how it could end up being scary. Like Heather said, I have heard of kids being afraid of their toys after watching Toy Story.

It was so good to see you yesterday!

Love you!

Bev said...

With my great fear of the dark as a child, I would still be in therapy if I thought a creepy looking doll came to life in the night and did things that I would have been spanked for. No...I'm with the children on this one - I would just kick that thing to the curb and pray it didn't get back in on its own.

Plus as a (grand)parent, finding creative things that thing could do every night would be one more pressure that I would not need at Christmas.

Other than that, I just love them.

Karie said...

I love the idea behind Elf but this would so be my kids. We are doing advent devo's with a new ornament for the tree every night instead. Found it looking up 'Jesse Tree'. Maybe when they are older we can have some silly fun with Elf.