The second week in December, "Great Elf" returned to the Barron house for his 2nd annual December sleepover. He's our Elf on a Shelf. A couple of years ago, I thought the elf would be a fun way to celebrate the Christmas spirit all month long, but we are not into the Elf on a Shelf theme - that he's watching you to see if you are good or bad, that he's making sure you are not naughty, that you cannot touch him, that he'll tell Santa when you are not behaving, etc. In fact, I gave away the book that comes with the Elf. For us, Great Elf is an element of Christmas fun. He's a part of the family. We touch him, he toss him around, we talk to him, he goes for car rides, etc. I wanted William to accept him as friend and not be intimidated by his presence. Our Elf hides every night and sometimes leaves little gifts for William. He comes the second week in December mostly so the kids don't tire of his little game. And that is what works for us.
Last year, we woke up to our North Pole breakfast with our Elf at the table. He left a note explaining who he was and William named him "Great Elf." I decided to set up the North Pole Breakfast again since William thought it was such a thrill. So, low and behold, Great Elf returned to the Barron house last week. He brought along another note for William which congratulated him on becoming a big brother this year. Great Elf also told William that he is super impressed with his airplane collection and had a great time playing with his airport while he waited for William to wake up. You should have seen William's face when I read that part of the letter - he was speechless and so curious. He asked me repeatedly which airplane I thought Great Elf played with all night. Great Elf's letter also said that he'd like to watch a little football and eat some marshmallows while he stays at our house. William was so concerned that football season was over, and he asked me if we taped any games Great Elf could watch. He also reminded me to put marshmallows on the grocery list. Just another sweet moment when you see the magic of Christmas through your child's eyes. So innocent.
Great Elf was kind enough to set up a North Pole Breakfast complete with snowball donuts, reindeer cereal, and a huge marshmallow candy cane treat. He's even a gift giver and left William a jar of Tootsie Rolls, a Santa Peez dispenser and a parachute trooper. Great Elf really does his homework all year!
After enjoying breakfast, William wanted to show Great Elf how to play a few airplane games on the Ipad. So the two of them set up shop on the couch and William gave Great Elf some pointers on video games. 
Adeline is also in love with Great Elf. She lights up when you give her puppets, baby dolls and now, Great Elf. She LOVES these toys with faces and I found her belly laughing at Great Elf and poking his eyes. 
Great Elf has enjoyed flying around the house at night. He's landed in our box of blocks, we've found him head first in Adeline's toy bin, he's hanged from the ceiling fan and sat under the Christmas tree watching William's train. Occasionally, he'll leave William treats such as the Angry Bird's gummy snacks and a Kit Kat.
Thank you for visiting us again this year Great Elf. We're so happy to have you and William and Adeline sure think you are wonderful. We'll miss you when Santa picks you up on Christmas Eve.
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