Thursday, November 29, 2012

Elf on the TV shelf

Alfred has returned from the North Pole again.

My daughter thinks he's a "baby" and she keeps trying to snuggle him. My 5 year old is having conniptions trying to keep her away so she doesn't ruin the "magic". Crap.

I'm going to have to find better (higher) hiding spots.

But, Evan has a blast looking for the elf every day. My kids and their happiness is the only reason I keep doing this. Not saying that they wouldn't be happy without it, but no matter how exhausted I am at the end of the day, I like to put forth just a tiny bit of extra effort to make their day.

I like that it's so easy to do right now. One day, hopefully far away from now, it won't be so easy.

One day, they won't be so quick to believe in our man-made-magic.

So, I'm going to enjoy these moments when they're young and hopefully give them lots of wonderful memories that will last them a lifetime.

I know some people aren't fans of the Elf or even fans of going all out. Does it matter what another Mom does? It shouldn't.

I've read some blogs (more than one), lots of things on Pinterest and Facebook about how the Elf is annoying and the Moms that go all out are annoying.

Seriously. Get over it. Let it go. To each their own.

There are so many critical viewpoints about one little Elf. If you haven't looked it up, try it. Some of it's funny...some of it is just plain judgemental and kind of mean.

Either way, we are going to keep doing what we do in our home, you go ahead and do the same in yours. I'm pretty sure that no matter what you decide to do, each child will grow up just fine and dandy.

Alfred decided to bring our family The Polar Express book.
We love the movie here, so it's nice to have the book version finally!
He's so nice.
What he is planning for tomorrow is related to this story.
Alfie is the nicest, creepy elf around.
 
I'm still getting ready for our RACK days.
 
Sounded super easy and fun when I first started planning. Now, I'm finding that there are tons of tiny details I looked over and have to keep running to the store to retrieve.
 
Last night, I ran to the dollar store for cookie trays. That way, when I donate a tray of treats to the fire department, I don't have to worry about going back for my tray (I have some nice ones, OK?). I worry about stupid stuff.
 
I still have yet to make the calendar that will hold our daily activities...or the cards to put in/on the calendar that state our daily activities.
 
I have today and tomorrow left. Think I'll finish?
 
I think, maybe not.
 
BUT, I did get most of my Christmas shopping accomplished. Not half-arsed this year like it has been in the past years. I've actually purchased stuff people will really like!
 
Go me.
 
Ok. That's all I have.
 
Elf time- Small rant on Mothers that rage on other Mothers- and Christmas stuff.
 
My life is full of excitement and fun.
 



6 comments:

  1. Have so much fun with RACK - I'm kinda pumped to see your recaps about it.

    And sorry if my link on your elf post yesterday triggered that mommy-guilt. I think what you're doing is adorable, and making your kids have some excitement about the season is NEVER a bad thing. I just know that I laughed a bit at PIWTPINTT.

    There should be zero guilt - that's just a different house that does things differently. It has some similarities to me as families celebrating christmas and families celebrating hanukkah.

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    1. Actually, I had read the blog before, I think I found it on Pinterest a few weeks ago. And she is funny, at first, but then it heads into a "knock down every Mom because I'm too lazy to do something" mode. And she wasn't the only one. After reading all those comments it just made me sad to see all these Moms attacking others because of the effort they decided to put into raising their kids.

      I just want to have fun with it and hope that others Moms realize that no matter what they do with the Elf or not do one at all, there's nothing wrong with it.

      I like funny Moms. Love reading funny mom posts. But that one was past funny and drifting into a little hatred zone and I wanted to write about it a few weeks ago. Your link just reminded me =). So I should be thanking you for posting it!

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  2. Have to ask.... what is RACK?

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    1. RACK- Stands for Random Acts of Christmas Kindness. We are going to do this for our Advent this year. Each day we are going to go out and do one act of kindness. Day 1 starts tomorrow and it's going to be delivering treats to our humane society and visiting the animals there.

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  3. Do people really get that emotional about it? I don't care for it and mostly don't want to put forth the effort, so I don't do it. Period. The end. And I don't begrudge the moms that choose to. I could see where it would be fun for a kid. But my little girl is six, she knows exactly how it works and that it's a crock. (She browses Pinterest on my iPad, she figured it out on her own).

    I also don't get all these moms that talk about how stupid it is, but then go on to post elaborate mischief the elf has gotten into. If you don't want to do it, IT'S OKAY. It's also okay to enjoy doing it. Doing it, then whining about how stressful it is and how you were pressured into it because other moms made you feel "less than" just kind of makes you look like an idiot. (General "you". Not specifically "You")

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    Replies
    1. I completely agree. My son is 5 and still believes fully in the magic of Christmas so we are going for it as long as possible. I just try not to judge other Moms whether they go all out or don't do the Elf at all. I was just surprised at how harsh that blog sounded.

      I'm with you...like I said above, whether you do it or not, the kids will probably grow up just fine.

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