Another Christmas tradition that I cherish (even though every year I’m so relieved to be done with it) is our Elf on a Shelf. Her name is Heart, and she has a reindeer named Toots (both names given by my children), and she has never been some snitch sent by Santa to spy on my kids. Instead, she is the distributor of advent calendars. Every day she is found in a new spot, with Toots and two little stockings with small surprises.
The little presents aren’t much. Each kid gets an advent calendar for the year and each day they get that present in Heart’s stocking. On the weekends they get a little something extra, like lip gloss or hand cream for the 14yo or a sweet treat for the 11yo.
As the weeks pass, Heart puts on different shirts. On the weekends she usually wears her robe. She also has a sled and an airplane that make appearances.
Last year I was worried I was deceiving my children, and while I made sure they now-14yo knows I’m Heart, I’m not sure the 11yo does. (When I was looking for a post with pictures of where I place Heart and Toots, I couldn’t find one, but I did find a post from 2017 where I lamented the fact that it was probably the last year my daughter would be believe in here. HAHAHAHAHAH!)
I even took Heart and Toots to the cabin with us this year. It felt too sad to miss the final three days with them, and I hadn’t unveiled her cute new monster sweatshirt yet.
Merry Christmas Eve to all who celebrate. I hope everyone has a wonderful day today, no matter what you celebrate.
