Elf on the Shelf

Am I the only one whose Facebook and Pinterest timelines have been inundated with "Elf on the Shelf" pictures? Certainly not! I wasn't curious until someone at work shared the story of the elf at lunch.

I may not have the story completely right, but the gist of it is that elf has magic powers and the kids can't touch the elf or it will lose its power. The elf was sent by Santa to monitor the kid's behavior and flys back to the North Pole each night to report to Santa. Each day the elf returns, but since elves like to play games, he may hide and appear in a new location. On Christmas Eve, the elf retires back to the North Pole and waits to rejoin the family for the next Christmas Season. You can read the full "Elf on the Shelf" story here.

Anyway, my co-worker has shared stories of her kids' excitement over the elf and how much fun it has become. Some of my favorites that I've seen on Pinterest and Facebook are here:

Source

Source

Source

There's only one problem...I don't have any kids to begin this Christmas tradition. I've convinced a few friends to start it with their kids. For now, I live vicariously through them. But, what if they don't sell these elves anymore once it's my turn? You know that got me thinking about going ahead and buying one even though I have no kids. Well, after looking at several Target stores for my friends, and seeing them sold out at each one, I decided the tradition was not for me. But, then came Barnes & Noble who had several throughout the store. I went through an inner struggle of should I buy one or not? Well, what made the decision for me was when I saw this:

Did you catch that? Not only can you buy a boy or girl elf, but you also have the choice of a "light" or "dark" elf! Shut the front door! You mean I can get my future kid an elf that has his (or her) skin tone?! I was sold! (Oh, and not to mention that I got 20% off with my educator's discount! Woot! Woot!) Now, I just had to decide on a "dark boy" or a "dark girl" elf.

It's a boy! I figured boys are more adamant about not playing with dolls and girls can be happy either way. Plus, most depictions of elves are boys anyway. So my future kid, whether boy or girl, will have a "dark boy" elf checking whether he (or she) is naughty or nice!

Okay, I know I'm crazy, but I now have an elf that will sit at the top of the closet until I have kids old enough to enjoy the tradition! I couldn't resist!

Linking up...go check it out!