Frank
I was paging through the mountain of catalogs I get this time of year. I had already found a few gifts and a few things that I bought for myself when I happened upon "The Elf on the Shelf".
The Elf on the Shelf is a tradition started by a woman to answer a question her children asked, "How does Santa really know if we are being naughty or nice?" The answer came in a small elf that arrives around Thanksgiving. He watched what the children did and would report back to Santa each night. He would come back in the morning perched in a new spot for the children to find. There are two rules. The children couldn't touch the elf, so he wouldn't lose his power to go back to the North Pole and he can't talk to the children only Santa and the adults. He would, of course,be happy to listen to the children if they wanted to talk to him.
I liked the little guy and I'm always on the lookout for a Christmas tradition that we could start. It's easier for younger couples with children to start these things. C and I have no children and had each been on our own for many years before we married. I still wanted to find something that we would do each year, that we could pass on to my stepchildren and grandchildren. So I bought the Elf on a Shelf.
It arrived yesterday in a nice box with a good book to explain the custom. I'm looking forward to reading the book to our grandchildren. It's written in Dr. Seuss-like rhyme and is a bit catchy.
I had to modify the tradition a bit since there are no children in our house. The way this would work is that C and I would take turns moving the Elf to his new position. If C moves the Elf the next night I have to find him and move him to a new place.
The first thing that we needed to do was to name him. C thought some combination of our names would be nice. I suggested the name of the elf from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer who wanted to be a dentist. Neither of us could think of the name. Several other names were kicked around. Finally C hit on the perfect name, Frank. He had to be Frank because he has blue eyes (get it...blue eyes...Frank Sinatra)
Since I found him first I perched him on a lamp to survey his new territory. Then I went to bed.
When I got up the next morning he was gone. I couldn't find him and I got really annoyed. If C was going to move him it had to be in plain sight in the living room, dining room, kitchen or my bathroom. I looked in all those rooms and didn't see Frank anywhere. I was steaming a bit as I started to go downstairs to work out. There was Frank, on the floor with his red elf cap laying beside him. It seemed that Scamp and Colby also wanted to get in on the fun. I gave Frank back his cap and perched him more securely on the lamp.
I think we're all going to have a lot of fun with this.
(I used "The Elf on the Shelf A Christmas Tradition" by Carol V. Aebersold and Chandra A. Bell illustrated by Coe Steinwart to write this column.)
The Elf on the Shelf is a tradition started by a woman to answer a question her children asked, "How does Santa really know if we are being naughty or nice?" The answer came in a small elf that arrives around Thanksgiving. He watched what the children did and would report back to Santa each night. He would come back in the morning perched in a new spot for the children to find. There are two rules. The children couldn't touch the elf, so he wouldn't lose his power to go back to the North Pole and he can't talk to the children only Santa and the adults. He would, of course,be happy to listen to the children if they wanted to talk to him.
I liked the little guy and I'm always on the lookout for a Christmas tradition that we could start. It's easier for younger couples with children to start these things. C and I have no children and had each been on our own for many years before we married. I still wanted to find something that we would do each year, that we could pass on to my stepchildren and grandchildren. So I bought the Elf on a Shelf.
It arrived yesterday in a nice box with a good book to explain the custom. I'm looking forward to reading the book to our grandchildren. It's written in Dr. Seuss-like rhyme and is a bit catchy.
I had to modify the tradition a bit since there are no children in our house. The way this would work is that C and I would take turns moving the Elf to his new position. If C moves the Elf the next night I have to find him and move him to a new place.
The first thing that we needed to do was to name him. C thought some combination of our names would be nice. I suggested the name of the elf from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer who wanted to be a dentist. Neither of us could think of the name. Several other names were kicked around. Finally C hit on the perfect name, Frank. He had to be Frank because he has blue eyes (get it...blue eyes...Frank Sinatra)
Since I found him first I perched him on a lamp to survey his new territory. Then I went to bed.
When I got up the next morning he was gone. I couldn't find him and I got really annoyed. If C was going to move him it had to be in plain sight in the living room, dining room, kitchen or my bathroom. I looked in all those rooms and didn't see Frank anywhere. I was steaming a bit as I started to go downstairs to work out. There was Frank, on the floor with his red elf cap laying beside him. It seemed that Scamp and Colby also wanted to get in on the fun. I gave Frank back his cap and perched him more securely on the lamp.
I think we're all going to have a lot of fun with this.
(I used "The Elf on the Shelf A Christmas Tradition" by Carol V. Aebersold and Chandra A. Bell illustrated by Coe Steinwart to write this column.)
Comments
Post a Comment