We just started a new family Christmas tradition. The Sister actually clued us into this particular piece of magic. One of her friends has been doing it with her kids for a couple of years and they’ve enjoyed it. The sister plans on starting it with her kids in a year or so.
I am speaking of the Shelf Elf.
The Shelf Elf is how Santa gets his intel. You see, he comes with a nice story explaining how he sits and observes the kids and then each night he returns to Santa to tell him how the kids have behaved. The kids can talk to him, but they can’t touch him. If they touch him, he loses his magic and won’t be able to report to Santa. No presents. Also, according to Santa’s rules, the Elf can’t talk back to the kids. He’s only around during the Christmas holiday, the rest of the year he goes back to Santa.
After reading the book we named our Shelf elf Sparky, thus enabling his magic. Ever since then, the kids have been talking to him and telling him what they want Santa to bring. They’ve also been asking non-stop questions trying to figure out the limitations and quirks of the curious little visiter. Does he sleep? If we touch him with a toy, will he lose his magic? How does he fly? Plus, they’ve been antagonizing one another with “The elf is watching you!”
Ah yes, the magic of Christmas.