Oh shit! It’s Elf time!

I think by now we are all familiar with the creepy little bastard that is, Elf on the Shelf!

This year it seems to have come around quicker than ever, few of us seem prepared and most of us seem to be wondering why the fuck we joined in on this tradition in the first place!

Can I get a collective “what were we thinking?”…

Love the idea or loathe it, there’s no denying this year it seems to be bigger than ever with lots of shops selling various props, Elf inspired treats and different kinds of Elves. If you aren’t very creative (like me), then it’s going to be much easier to pick up ideas for Elf antics this year! Or that’s what I’m hoping anyway, this year my enthusiasm has hit an all time low.

I cannot be arsed!

Our Elf came to us in Christmas 2014 and the girls affectionately named her Emily after one of my best friends. My eldest was almost 11 and although she was no longer completely convinced by the concept of Santa she wasn’t quite at the point where she had questioned us too much. Emily Elf was brought in to add an extra dash of magic while she still at least humoured me about believing in Santa. I went all out! I covered half the living room in wrapping paper, I changed their bedsheets to Christmas ones while they were asleep, treats and small gifts were left and various pranks were played – it was a lot of fun, but also a lot of work.

I’ve never found as much enthusiasm for it in subsequent years. The addition of a dog and my younger children becoming more and more nosey (finding near on any ‘props’ I have hidden, rendering them useless!) it’s just becoming less and less enjoyable and more of a self inflicted nightmare!

To mix things up a bit last year we welcomed Egbert, the idea was he would be a bit naughty and having two elves would mean more possibilities. This was, of course, absolute bollocks!

This year it’s occurred to me (hit me like a sledgehammer!) just how long I’m going to need to keep this Elf ‘magic’ alive….. My youngest is 4, if she believes until she’s 10 that’s only 6 more years. It doesn’t sound like much, but I’m 3 years in and I’m running seriously low on ideas already. Fuck! I’m not creative enough for this situation!

Of course you can always count of Pinterest for some absolutely amazing inspiration, or more accurately, unrealistic expectations. I’m yet to adequately recreate anything I’ve seen on there!

Nonetheless I will plod on with Emily and Egbert, they may be creepy little bastards but my kids loose their tiny little minds at the mere thought of them!

One day, when they’re grown and have children of their own they will think back to these magical memories and desperately want to recreate them, they’ll probably even think it will be fun….. Oh how i will laugh!

Good Luck with your Elves this month! Let’s hope our children aren’t desperately naughty and they have to go for long stays with Santa huh?! I hear bad weather can prevent them from returning each day, I do hope that isn’t true!