Elf on the shelf ...

Friday night post-bedtime date idea for parents.  This is so freaking funny.  Why do we participate in the elf on the shelf?  After I saw how giddy my three year old was when she first saw her elf I was SOLD!  Her eyes light up when she talks about "Ariel" and it is purely magical for her.  Who doesn't love starting their morning with their excited 3 year old smiling and giggling and talking about all of the good that she does and plans to do.   She has a strong capacity to believe in the good in the world which is particularly refreshing with all of the crazy happening right now.  Having Ariel around gets her to verbalize those good things to "someone" over oatmeal.  

So intermittently throughout the day, we can laugh about "silly Ariel" and not become paralyzed by the fact that there was a horrific mass shooting only 15 minutes from my sister, Pris, in CA or be overcome with anxiety thinking about how my Kenz did a drill at school where she practiced hiding from an intruder this fall.  Our family needs the giggles that come from this silly elf.  But if Kenzie has a friend who's elf contracted Lyme's disease from Dasher and he needs to rest all December, that is ok too.  We all need a minute sometimes.  

Thank you to my a sister, Rachelle, who gave me the idea of dressing up as our elf and sitting on a shelf.  Thank you to my fabulous neighbor, Sarah, who just happened to have an elf costume at her house.  And thank you to my husband who wanted to lock me up but let me climb up to this nook anyways and for coming up with the idea of copying the elf.in.real.life.   

More to come...

30 second elf on the shelf pose that you can feel good about

Remember all of those marshmallows you bought in October to make that s'more dip in the friggin Cracker Barrel pan ... but it never happened?  Put elf in a bowl and throw some of those stale marshmallows on top of her.  Wha - la!  You're one of those crafty chicks who's elf is taking a marshmallow bath!!  And you cleaned out your pantry.

See those bite marks?  too.stale.for.my.3yearold.

Oh, you.

How are we different?  I'm pondering whether I should search Amazon for an ankle tambourine or write a children's book about Kenzie and Bobo (surely the publisher who picks it up would do so based on my content and then hire a professional to create some whimsical art based on the ideas in my head.)  All the while, my husband is in the background telling me that drawers need organized.  We don't need coupons that expired in 2004 or star Popsicle instruction pamphlets - you would never read an instruction manual anyways.  The post its go with post its, all of the post its need to be in the same place, where you can find them.  But I need post its everywhere - as I stash them everywhere while he's making coffee with his back turned.  As long as the drawer can close, we're golden. You're right, I'm not the only one that lives here. Oh, snap. Fair enough, junk drawer first and then on to my aspirations.