Elf On The Shelf

This year, we decided to start the Elf On The Shelf tradition in our home. Even though Graysen is only a little over 18 months, he understands so much and it will be fun for him to find his elf each morning. We adopted our elf on Saturday and named him Jingle McKringleberry. {My husband named him! It is fun to say, though!} He will make his appearance at our house the day after Thanksgiving. We want to do our Elf tradition a little different than the original Elf On The Shelf tradition. In the story that comes with the elf, it says that the children are not able to touch their elf or the Christmas Magic may run out. At our house, we #1. want to avoid as many tantrums as possible from wanting to touch him and not being able to #2. make it more about the Christmas Spirit, grace and forgiveness and #3. we want him to love his elf, hug him, talk to him and not be afraid of him. We also don't want to necessarily describe Santa as an old man that wears a red suit {he was a real man once, who wore a green suit}, but more of a spirit or presence that lives inside us all. We want to focus more on the true meaning of Christmas and the joy that it brings to others. When he asks about the man in the red suit, we will assure him that yes, there is a Santa, but like God, some people have a hard time believing in something they can't see, so they made up a character to fill that void. I as a child, did not believe in the Santa who rode in the sleigh for very long, but I still to this day believe in the Spirit of Christmas and it's my favorite time of year! I could live in the snow globe of a Christmas Village, with carols being played on the streets, all year long! 

With that being said, we will be introducing Jingle on Friday and like we explained in the letter, he will be here until Christmas Eve watching over Graysen. We explained that Graysen will have to help teach Jingle manners, because elves tend to be mischievous, just like him. But...Santa, just like Jesus and Mommy and Daddy, forgive him, because everyone, including Santa makes mistakes. Here is a picture of Jingle. I cannot wait to post the fun antics that he gets into. Also below is the letter that he will be bringing with snow covered donuts on Friday.