We jumped on the "Elf on the Shelf" bandwagon this year because I just knew my girls would love the new tradition. I'd never read the book but how could so many people on Pinterest be wrong, right? So early morning on December 1, 2012 this arrived on our doorstep...
Now Maddy was VERY concerned because she has an elf at school and (for good reason!) they are not allowed to touch the elf or it will lose it's magic. Makes sense, right? I'm talking EXTREMELY concerned....
I particularly love how the dramatic music in Fox in the Hound (I think that's what is playing) really fits.
Well, we sat down on the couch and read the story. I hated strongly disliked it. (We don't say hate, as Emma will remind you every time you say it.) I didn't like the idea that the girls would be "good" for presents. And besides, I didn't want an elf that just watched. I wanted an elf that would PLAY! So, tick tock went the ole brain bump and after scouring the internet (I can't be the only one that feels this way?) I came across this from Le Ana at A Small Snippet. Now THIS was more my style. I tweaked it to my taste and printed it on beautiful card stock that of course I inked and wore out a bit. This isn't the correct font either, and it should fit on one page but who knows what's up with my computer today so this is only the first page. The second page just says "I love you guys so very much! Santa." And has his very important logo on the bottom.
I think you get the picture. It worked really well. Instead of speaking down to them and saying, "Prissy-Nala is watching! She is going to tell Santa you aren't behaving and he will put you on the naughty list!" We were able to tell all our friends that we have a "special elf." And tell how proud we are of our children that they were chosen to have such an important job to be example and teach Prissy-Nala to be Christlike. Every time someone would visit our house, the girls would show them their elf and tell them how her magic grew every time they hugged her or showed her how to choose the right. They were proud. Not naughty. Proud. This was probably the most peaceful, stress free month we've ever had! They would bring her to family prayer, and read scriptures with us. She even came to church with us.
And Emma slept with her every night.
I knew this elf thing was genius immediately but there was no denying it after the first night when the girls woke up to Prissy Nala having eaten all their gingerbread cookies.
Maddy: "Oh Prissy Nala! It's not nice to eat all the cookies without even asking! And it's really not nice to make such a mess and make someone else clean it up when it is your responsibility. C'mon Prissy Nala, let's get you cleaned up girl."
It was seriously the sweetest thing I'd ever heard. She didn't yell, she wasn't upset. She just explained things to Prissy Nala, cleaned it up (her and Emma, I didn't even do it!) and then took her to play.
This is exactly how she was treated the entire time she was visiting. Sometimes she was naughty, sometimes she was sweet. Here are the things she did when she got bored while we were all sleeping.
Dec 1. Prissy Nala arrives.
Dec 2. Prissy Nala eats all the gingerbread cookies.
Dec 3. Prissy Nala wraps ALL the Christmas books! (We opened one every night to read before bed.) AND she got a little excited wrapping all those books she wrapped the girls bathroom door!! Maddy couldn't even get in to pee!
Dec 4. Prissy Nala plays a competitive game of Candy Land with baby Cinderella and naked baby Lalaloopsy. Complete with snacks that Emma promptly cleaned up by eating.
Dec 5. Oh no! The girls gave Prissy Nala their cold! She was sick in bed all day. Emma took her temp at least 15 times and kept laying cold pieces of tissue paper over her eyes.
Dec 6. We accidentally walked in on Prissy Nala using the potty!! The girls loved the magic green pee. (Please ignore the nasty mineral stains in the toilet. We just moved in and couldn't find anything to get these out. Luckily the dear sweet husband and a pumice stone finally did the trick.)
Dec 7. I bet you can't tell what Maddy lectured her about this day. "It's important that we take responsibility for our own actions and don't blame others." Can you tell we've had some experience with that one?
Dec 8. & Dec 9. I'm not sure what she did. Tom and I were away at ATC so we missed her antics. The in laws were graciously watching the girls and I know they got some pictures so I'll add them later if I can get a hold of them.
Dec 10. This is the one and only time Maddy got truly upset with Prissy Nala. She sat on the step and cried because Prissy Nala decorated without us. We were all supposed to decorated as a family and she didn't even use the right ribbon. We just explained to her that Prissy Nala was trying to help and it was easy to take down and start over. That was a rough one.
Dec 11. After last nights fiasco, Prissy Nala played it safe and colored the girls a picture.
Dec 12. Prissy Nala brought a present!! Magic elf seeds!
The instructions are inside the card and they are hand written. I can't remember what I wrote but it was something cute that rhymed. Basically you plant the seeds in sugar, leave them over night. They need at least 9 hours to grow so no getting out of bed! They don't grow until you're sleeping. Something about when you dream and the magic from your imagination or something like that. Who knows what I told them.
And then the next morning......
Dec 13.
Dec 14. Prissy Nala colored on all the eggs!!
Dec 15. I was a little worried when I saw Prissy Nala had toilet papered the Christmas Tree after what happened last time. But the girls just thought it was funny.
Dec 16. Can you believe Prissy Nala took down the stockings and replaced them with underwear???
Dec 17. A fort out of books?? Maddy and Emma made me keep this one up for about 3 days until it mistakenly got knocked down and we encountered major meltdown mode.
Dec 18. Marshmellow snowball fight with Barbie!!
Dec 19. Prissy Nala left another treat for the girls! She got hot cocoa ready for them all to sip together at breakfast! Too bad theirs was shoved in sippy cups and they were told to chug on the way to school. Good try Prissy Nala, good try.
Dec 20. Hehehe. Naughty elf.
Dec 21. Syrup anyone?? Gross.
Dec 22. Party!! Zip line from the Chandelier!
Dec 23. Prissy Nala made brownies for breakfast!! Unfortunately the girls had a hard time sleeping, meaning mommy and daddy had a hard time sleeping so we forgot to snap a picture!
Dec 24. This letter arrived from Prissy Nala.
They spent the entire day with Prissy Nala. They made cookies for Santa, spread reindeer food on the ground outside, watched Nativity videos, read our last scriptures and Christmas books, watched The Polar Express (in pj's Prissy Nala had delivered from her elf friend Sprinkles!) and gave BIG loves to Prissy Nala before they set her next to Santa's cookies so he could find her quickly to take her home.
I think I may have been more upset to see Prissy Nala leave then the girls were! They bonded with her so much over the last few weeks and having her here as a reminder of what Christmas is really about was such a blessing. We didn't miss prayers or scriptures not once, not a single day. Peace filled our home and I got to see my babies grow up in so many ways. They are little leaders now. They are strong, good, and righteous little girls and I am so so Proud of them.
No comments:
Post a Comment