Can Christmas magic make Elf on the Shelf disappear? | THE MOM STOP

Each year, shortly before Thanksgiving, my husband laments the parade of plastic tubs that he must help hand down from the attic as I prepare for the onslaught of all that is Christmas.

It takes a while, because half of what is stored in our fairly large attic is dedicated to Christmas: The outdoor reindeer, the multiple nativity displays, the six fully decorated, themed Christmas trees that somehow magically pop up around our house sometime between the third and fourth weeks of November every year.

I’m all about Christmas.

I follow in the tradition of my grandmother in that I make multiple types of cookies each holiday season, including the delicate Norwegian rosettes, just the way she did. And I wrap them up to give to my kids’ teachers or neighbors or co-workers, just the way my grandmother used to do.

I mail out holiday cards, not because I enjoy hand addressing the 100-plus envelopes or purchasing a small fortune worth of holiday stamps, but because it’s tradition. I enjoy receiving holiday cards from family and friends, and thus I need to send them, too.

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But when it comes to the holidays, there’s one tradition I’d love to buck: the Elf on the Shelf.

I feel like every year, I sit down to write my annual column about my Grinch-like hatred of that felt elf doll, which “magically” moves around the house causing mischief. It’s not as if parents don’t have enough to do during the holiday season when they are doing their holiday shopping, their gift wrapping, the decorating or the baking. It’s not like I don’t have much else to do than to remember to move a doll around every evening after my kids have finally gone to sleep.

Bah-humbug to that.

Perhaps the reason I’m not thrilled with the Elf on the Shelf is because it’s a relatively new tradition that my generation did not grow up with. Perhaps the children of today will grow up and move their elf with delight, because they remember the magic of it from when they were young.

But for me, I’ll pass. If only I could.

We had tried to boycott the elf. We tried to be an elf-free household. My kids’ friends talked about their elves, and my two oldest kids would ask why we didn’t have one. I tried to explain that not all families have elves that come to visit. But then, when my sister got not just one, but multiple elves for her family, my kids didn’t understand why their cousin had two elves but they had none. And so I caved. And I’ve been regretting it ever since.

I write this tongue-in-cheek. It is something my kids have enjoyed, and as they have gotten older, it’s only my youngest, my 7-year-old, who still believes in the magic. I know that magic is fleeting, and to enjoy her believing for as long as it lasts. If only I could remember to move the elf each night. In our house, it’s standard for the elf to sometimes stay in one spot longer than just a day — because it’s hard to remember to move it every single night.

But then came a breakthrough. I came home from work last week to discover our elf was hanging from a  multi-colored garland of strung Fruit Loops that hung over our kitchen island. I didn’t do it. My husband didn’t do it, and neither did our 13-year-old daughter.

Our after-school babysitter, a college student who is with our children every day, got to our house early and then strung the cereal tight rope between our kitchen pendant lights and hung our elf on it before our kids got off the bus. Magic.

I quickly texted the babysitter after she left for the day and thanked her profusely. If only she could move the elf daily — but it won’t last long, since she will soon leave town for winter break.

I just have to remember: It’s for the magic. And Christmas magic doesn’t last forever.

Lydia Seabol Avant writes The Mom Stop for The Tuscaloosa News. Reach her at momstopcolumn@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Can Christmas magic make Elf on the Shelf disappear? | THE MOM STOP