This is the week for our friend from the North Pole to arrive, and the kids are so excited! I’m talking about our elf, Buddy. Buddy first started to visit us two years ago on Thanksgiving night. As parents, we were so excited to start this new tradition with our kids and were interested in seeing how Buddy would play into the kids’ behavior with his “always watching and reporting to Santa” approach.
I still remember one of the first days we had Buddy and our daughter decided to be mean to her brother. I can’t recall exactly what she did, but I just remember reminding her that Buddy may have seen what had happened and would be reporting back to Santa that night. She immediately went to talk with Buddy, apologized for what she had done, promised that she would try really hard to be good and asked him to not tell Santa. It was great! We had our own behavior monitor and we didn’t have to be the bad guys. Win win for mom and dad!
Now, for anyone who is planning on starting this tradition with your kids, it is fun, for about the first week, and then it becomes more work. All I can say is to be ready to put some effort into this tradition. I’ll admit it, there were mornings that Buddy liked his seat so much so that he stayed there for 2 days. (Yes, that worked when they were 4 & 2 years old, but not so much now.) The plus side is that there are so many online resources to give you ideas in what mischief your elf may partake. My advice would be to do some “research” ahead of time and plan ahead what he or she may do that night while everyone is sleeping.
Once our kids grasped the concept of not touching Buddy things got a little more fun. He was able to get into more elaborate mischief and fun. Until that point, he had to do a lot of up high and out of their reach fun. I love that our kids still talk about things Buddy has done in years past, so it’s definitely something they remember. We will try our best to keep going this year and make some more great memories!
Do you have mischievous little elves in your home?
We haven’t started this tradition in my house…mainly because I am too lazy! 🙂