Elfs

Introducing Elfs!

Yes, I know that is not grammatically correct, but Parker has some speech issues and tends to add an "s" to words. We originally introduced Elf on the Shelf to Parker when he was about 15 months old. His godmother gave it to him. I thought he would love it. I thought wrong. He liked the book, but wanted nothing to do with the elf. He would grab him and throw him across the room.

he won't look at the elf in the eye...

here we are reading the book and he is grabbing the elf to throw him away

We re-introduced him last year when he was 27 months old and he had the same reaction - wanted nothing to do with the elf. But this year I knew he would be ok with him. The key with Parker is to hype it up and make a big deal out of it. Kevin and I discussed it and said that we should pick out the elf's hiding spot first then read the book to Parker and have him look for the elf. We busted the elf out a couple of days after Thanksgiving. We were originally going to do it in the morning, but we ended up having a garage sale in the morning and I took the kids out and about with my mom. So we did it after nap time - in the midst of a tantrum that stopped when we said Santa left him a special package.

We read him the book then asked Parker what he wanted to name his elf and his first suggestion was: Santa Claus. I thought ok, that's cute. But then realized it may pose some problems down the road when we tell him Santa Claus is watching you (I admit, we do scare tactics in this household...I'm not ashamed!) when he is misbehaving. Well is Santa Claus the elf watching or is it the "real" Santa Claus? So we explained that he can't name his elf that b/c there's already a Santa. So we asked again what he wanted to name his elf. He thought for a long while and said things like: "I don't know" and "big black train". I just didn't want to name our elf either of those names! Finally he came up with: Elfs. Original I know, but at that point his attention span was waning so we just stuck with it. I know he was trying to say Elf, but I kinda like Elfs.

finding Elfs for the fist time!

you're allowed to talk to him and he listens to you, but he's not allowed to talk back. There's only one rule: don't touch the elf or his magic may disappear

Parker LOVES to look for him each morning. It's usually one of the first thing he wants to do. Using Elfs as a scare tactic to behave worked the first couple of days. Now he just continues on with his tantrums, but they're not as crazy as they normally are.

Parker wanted a banana before getting ready for bed...Elfs thought that sounded like a yummy idea so he hid there the next morning when he came back from visiting Santa!

This was on Tuesday morning...sorry it's so dark...this was taken with my iphone and it was early morning (light enough for the flash to not fire off, but dark enough that it's hard to see). Parker found Elfs fairly quickly (I thought it would take him a while to find him b/c Kevin Elfs picked such a high and random spot) while I was changing Avery's diaper. She started to eat her breakfast and then all of a sudden started yelling: "Eh, Eh, Eh!" and pointing up. Parker's excitement is contagious and she's getting into it too! LOVE it!

Elfs got into Parker's cereal - he sees Parker eating it almost every morning and wanted to try a little bit. Parker found him pretty quickly - thought it would take him a while b/c Elfs has stuck to hiding in the living room/foyer so far.

Parker laughed when he found him and said: "Elfs, you siwwy (silly)! You eat my see-yer (cereal)!". After lunch I threw away the oat squares (I shook the garbage can so that other trash would cover the cereal - I'm nuts I know) and called Parker over and in a very dramatic voice said: "Oh my gosh! Elfs ate all of his cereal!". Parker's reply: "Good job eating dinner, Elfs!".

Kevin and I have been pretty good about remembering to hide Elfs in a different spot. We only forgot the first night. We I slightly freaked out when Parker came out to the living room b/c I didn't want him to see Elfs still getting a piggy back ride from the snowman! I had Kevin rush him back to his bedroom while I quickly threw Elfs up in the tree, which was the closest. Parker didn't even remember to look for him since it was less than 24 hours when they were first introduced, but we reminded him to look for him. He's been hooked ever since. I'm sure he will be sad and will be asking about Elfs when he goes back to the North Pole on Xmas Eve! Tonight, Elfs is hiding in Parker's bathroom...hugging his toothbrush so that I will remember to brush his teeth!