What if I just buy a toy elf, plant him somewhere in the house and tell Adeleigh a brief, and completely believable story about why he's here???.....That'll totally work.
Then two days ago while shopping at Target, I found an endcap display of classic Rudolph stuffed animals. One was an elf for $5.99. Perfect.
That night, I stuck him on top of a canvas near the Christmas Tree. I decided to start out simply before getting all Pinterest-ed out on the little guy.
The next morning, Adeleigh, Atticus and I walked down the stairs together. The first thing she noticed was the elf.
"Mom, what's that?"
"Oh, Adeleigh! Santa must have sent one of his elves to check in on you and your brother during the day! How cute!"
"No, Mom. That's not a real elf."
"What do you mean? Of course it's a real elf!" Generally, I wouldn't lie to my children, but this time I did.
"No, Mom. It's not." She grabbed our classic Rudolph board book collection, pulled out a book, flipped to a page and said, "See? It's that guy...What's his name?"
"Well, what do you think his name is? You get to pick what Santa's elf's name is."
Keep in mind, I have not read the premise to Elf on the Shelf. All I know is a family gets an elf, the kids name it something cute, and then Moms and Dads make it do silly things like poop chocolate chips on the counter tops.
"Mom. Mom. It's not Santa's elf. It's that guy, right there. What's his name? Hermey?"
"Yes, he looks like Hermey to me. Santa must have sent Hermey then!"
"No, Mom. No. It's not a real elf. He's too soft. And his ears aren't pointy."
I was stumped. I had nothing left to say. And I planned on getting my $5.99 back for the failed scheme.
"Well, Adeleigh. If he's not real, then do you want him to leave?"
"No. He can stay. He's our elf now. But he's not one of Santa's elves. And he isn't real. Stop saying that."
So Hermey is here to stay. And my 4-year-old is smarter than me.
Thank you for sending me your blog again! You guys are so funny!
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