I caved. Friends and family have been adopting an “Elf On The Shelf” for a few years now with glowing reviews. Chad and I seem to be very minimalist when it comes to encouraging emphasis on the-man-up-north and his helpers because:

1. After getting lots of presents as a child from Santa one year Chad questioned why his parents didn’t get him anything.
2. Childhood is confusing enough as it is without bringing in magic.
3. Parenthood is challenging enough as it is without having to remember to to help a little elf get back from Santa every night and perch in a new place. The commute is a real drag!
4. We do not want things to deemphasize the gift of the Savior to us from our Heavenly Father.

Nevertheless I get giddy to no end when I see Santa! So why not allow that magic to brighten our kids life?

So I have done some reconnaissance about Christmas Elf customs and habits. Many elves are mischievious and tricky–making little messes and pulling silly pranks.

Our Elf is a little different. She brought us “Snow Donuts” on her arrival. She has laid out clothes, cleaned up messes for us, read stories to toy animals, set up our Nativity scene, hung ornaments, etc. She even did the dishes for me once!!! Our little Elf finds little ways to serve our family. She is very kind and a great example to the kids of the little things they can do on their own to serve eachother. Every morning the kids have been tickled to see the nice things our little visitor has done for us and with out fail Alden chimes in a big “Thank you Elf!”

Our elf helps us be more focused on giving then getting. And even the days that are a little hectic and frustrating she returns with a glad heart and a helpful spirit. She never theatens our kids that they are going to get coal. Even if they were acting naughty they will always get gifts. We, the parents, just may not be as pleased about it. She answers the tough days with more helping and kindness and is unconditionally giving, She battles the bad with good instead of fueling it with negativity. I really like this gal!

Our little elf has been a welcomed addition by all!

Eden: I’m Mary. (With a blanket over her head like a head scarf)
Alden: Me too!
E: No, I’m Mary
(after some disappointment with the blanket falling repeatedly off her head the characters changed)

E: Now Alden is Mary. I am the King. (In her pretend man voice)
E: (To A) It is time to lock you back up in the cave.
When you have baby Jesus, Call me!

—
I hope there is an encore

E: Behold I am am the guard of this place too!

I have a long history of incredibly detailed dreams. Sadly many of them have also been terrifying. I remember going into my mom when I was little and laying next to her in the middle of the night seeking comfort from a scary dream. We used to set up a bed on the floor of her room because of the frequent nightmares. When I got older not only was I too scared to go down the flight of stairs to seek comfort from my parents but I thought I was too old to be scared of just a dream. And I had some horrible dreams. I remember being afraid to fall asleep and afraid to lay away alone in my dark room at night. When I went off to college I awoke then with crying or a terrified yelp. Poor Chad but lucky me. One of the best things about sharing a life with someone is that I don’t have to travel far to get my grip back on reality and feel safe and comfortable again.

I had a sweet moment this morning when a little mini-me, Eden, came into our room crying about a scary dream. She told me about being in a cave. Behind a door there were cubes to climb up. Chad and I went up ahead and she was afraid she could not get past a bee.

We snuggled up really close and then I told her a story about the cave she described to me. The bee helped us unlock the door and then Papi gave her a piggyback ride. We climbed up the cubes and found a beautiful colorful place with rainbows and purple water and lollipop flowers and fish jumping of all sorts of colors. We had a picnic. Eden decided on hotdogs and icecream, just in case we ate good. I told her that we ate well and we talked about a great big icecream sundae That we ate out of a bowl as big as our popcorn bowl with lots of spoons. Chocolate, strawberry and vanilla, with bananas and strawberries, whipped cream and chocolate sauce. Then when we went back through the cave it sparkled like stars because of glowworms. When we got out of the cave we marked it with a little picture made of rocks so we would know how to get back to the beautiful land.

Eden felt much better. I asked if she wanted to say a prayer. She then told me that she had said a prayer and sang “I am a Child of God” but it hadn’t worked. We talked about how I still have scary dreams too and that sometime you just need to go snuggle with someone. We talked about how that is the great thing about sharing a room with her brothers. They can all help each other out and protect and comfort eachother. She seemed to like that idea. Then we said a prayer.

I am so impressed with Eden for already knowing the source for peace and comfort. She already knows and has learned important tools to strengthen herself. I love her to peices and she started my day off beautifully, even if it was an hour or so earlier than normal.