our elf is back

December 1st was {drum roll} Antarctica Day, and the day our Elf returned. {FYI, since I don't know who is reading my blog, all elf posts are kid-friendly.}

As many of you know, I have 2 children. One is still very young and full of imagination. The other is teetering on tweenhood, has recently become too cool to hold my hand in public, and lets out a very dramatic sigh every morning when the school bus pulls up and I kiss him goodbye. Which is why we have a new Elf this year. Somehow {I have no idea how this happened}, our Elf was wedged into one of the shelves in my office. For months. And my older son realized this and took note, announcing a few weeks ago, that "he didn't know if I knew it, but the Elf's just been sitting on my office shelf" {accompanied by a look like, "so, I'm thinking it's not real".} Well, as we all know, Elves move daily, and they go back to the North Pole around December 24th. I have no idea why our Elf stuck around {or how he lodged himself in between a bunch of junk on a high shelf in my home office?!}, but by the time he woke up from his post-holiday slumber and went home, there must not have been enough time to get back down to CT.

So, I was thinking maybe this year there would be no Elf. {Right.} Then lo and behold, a girl Elf showed up yesterday. According to the note she left, this is her first Elf gig. She's learning the ropes and left a loooong note, that our reluctant reader eagerly read. She wanted to know "what real kids do to 'be good'". Our younger son was anxious to clue her in...

For anyone who doesn't have a phonetic speller, I'll help you out:

1. Be nice!
2. Share! x2
3. Teamwork!
4. Help!
5. Take turns!
6. Introduce yourself!
7. Smile
8. Be funny! x2

The x2 are the things our older son, reluctantly, agreed the two of them should do to "be good". But he sure as hell wasn't writing a letter to an Elf.

Fine. She'll just have to make sure he still believes...

because everyone know I wouldn't TP my son's room.