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Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Oliver

I'd like for you to meet Oliver, our personal Scout Elf. Oliver came to us last year (courtesy of Moots) from Elf On The Shelf and is now my FAVORITE Christmas Tradition that we will have with the boys until they're old enough to know better or don't believe in the magic of Christmas any more.

Oliver arrives at our house the day after Thanksgiving, however he was a day late due to being lost in our basement amongst all the stuff that has been shuffled around during our remodel project, and stays with us until Christmas Eve when he returns to the North Pole for his vacation.

Oliver's job...to watch the boys and report back to Santa Claus at the North Pole each evening on how they behaved that day. There are many times in the evenings that I catch myself saying "Oliver's watching" or "I wonder if Oliver will tell Santa.....". Let me tell you, he's a great quick remedy for a ill-behaving child.

The boys love Oliver. Every night before I go to bed, it's my responsibility to move him from the day's perching spot to a new one to show the children that he's left and returned while they were fast asleep. Every morning Tim and I get a kick out of the boys coming into the family room/breakfast room and looking to see where Oliver might just show up. Is he on a lamp? On the fireplace mantel? Sitting somewhere up high where he can't be reached or hanging from the ceiling fan? It's always a contest to see who can find him the fastest. Mason's a pretty quick study and tends to point him out faster than Jack does.

Last year, I was quite disappointed when Christmas Eve rolled around and I had to return Oliver to his box. Much to my dismay, Christmas was over. We had no one to use as our pawn for an excuse of watchful eye and easy behavior modifier other than Mommy or Daddy speaking firmly or the oh so wonderful "Time Outs" that are not that unusual in our home.

If you have children, and don't have a family elf, I highly recommend one! If you are a Grandparent and want to buy your daughter or son a wonderful gift to start a family tradition.....Elf On The Shelf is by far the best one out there.

2 comments:

Jaidean said...

What a great idea - I love it!

Heather said...

This is such a great idea Libby!!!! Very cute!